F1 Breaking News

Michael Schumacher signs for Mercedes F1 for 2010.

Michael Schumacher, the 7 times World Champion, has signed a multi-million pound deal with the new Mercedes GP team. Michael, who will be 41 early in 2010 will partner another German, Nico Rosberg also new to the team.

Mercedes GP (formerly Brawn GP) will run from the Brawn factory in Brackley, Northants the home of the dmised Honda team. So there will be 2 German drivers in a German team to mirror the same at Mclaren where Lewis and Jenson are of course both British drivers in a British team.

Michael's return is great news for F1 and he will of course be back with his great friend Ross Brawn, the man who engineered his 7 world championships. His return will not be good news for the other drivers as he will be hungry for success after his 3 year break in competitive motor sport.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC he added: "I'm very motivated, thrilled and excited. He commented "I want to have fun out there and I feel as fresh as ever. I've recharged myself after a three-year break. The challenge is what I look for - I want to know it."

Michael's initial comeback in 2009 to replace Felipe Massa was thwarted by a neck injury sustained in a motor bike accident last February.

Recent medical checks confirmed he is back to full fitness and he is confident, after serious training all will be well.

Michael has been released from his revised consultancy contract for Ferrrari enabling to drive for the "Silver Arrows".

Schumacher revealed that it was Ferrari's request for him to fill in for Massa that sparked a desire to make a permanent return to the cockpit. He must have found it very difficult to leave his beloved Ferrari team but things change as this is a great opportunity for him and the new Silver Arrows team.

Obviously the Mercedes team will be competitive from the flag in Bahrain and will be building on the winning formula base which won Jenson the championship.

Good luck Michael on your return and the world will be watching with huge anticipation, eagerly awaiting a competitive season in 2010.

F1 News

May I take this opportunity of wishing the Teams, Drivers, Fans, Marshall's and all those connected with Motor Racing generally all over the world a very  

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous 2010.

Updates and General News
Silverstone has at last been granted an extended license for an unspecified period (albeit 17 years has been mentioned) to host the British Grand Prix at its rightful home. This will give Damon and his team the opportunity to make the required investment in the circuit with guaranteed return. Well done the BRDC and about time too.

Points System for 2010
Changes to the points scoring for drivers and constructor championships come into operation for the new season as follows: 

1st - 25, 2nd - 20, 3rd - 15, 4th - 10, 5th - 8, 6th - 6, 7th - 5, 8th - 3, 9th - 2, 10th - 1.

That will make a big difference to the spread of points across the drivers and teams. Points for 
 9th and 10th will make a difference to the lower places as they are still achieving points for their efforts.

New Rules 
New rules come into force relating to race day incidents. There will be a permanent panel of stewards who iwll go to each GP along with an additional local steward for each circuit. These 4 stewards will also be accompanied by an experienced former F1 driver to add to the decision making process. These may well help iron out some of the anomalies which have hindered drivers and teams over the past couple of seasons.

New Driver Appointments 
The appointment of drivers is now changing by the day and once the places are all filled I will publish the full driver/team line up. This will finally update the last one I published a few weeks ago. News from this last 2 weeks.

I am pleased to hear Kobayashi has been given a drive with BMW Sauber for 2010 and we all wait their place on the grid to replace Toyota. Kobayashi sprung into the limelight for the last 2 races in 2009 replacing the injured Timo Glock at Toyota. He drove 2 fantastic races in both Brazil and Abu Dhabi and is without doubt a talent for the future.

Virgin Racing (Manor Grand Prix) have announced Lucas Di Grassi and Timo Glock and that sounds an interesting partnership for a new team.

Lotus have also announced their driver line up with Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalinen. Let us all hope the resurgence of Lotus can match the talent of both drivers, if it can they should be up and around mid pack.

It was also nice to hear Felipe (Massa) is back in winning ways after winning the 500 Miles of Granja Viana Kart race in Cotia, near Sao Paulo. Felipe had team mates of Lucas di Grassi and Julio Campos and crossed the line first after 644 laps - or just under 11 hours of racing. Welcome back Felipe and all the best for 2010.

That's all for now and I will continue with the updates and any important news after Christmas.

F1 Calendar 2010

The 2010 F1 Race Calendar sees 19 races with the introduction of Korea. Also the great news that Silverstone is to retain the British GP for the foreseeable future. The start race for 2010 has also changed to Bahrain and replaces Australia which is now race 2.

So here goes.

12 to 14 March Bahrain GP (Sakhir)
26 to 28 March Australian GP (Melbourne)
2 to 4 April Malaysian GP (Kuala Lumpur)
16 to 18 April Chinese GP (Shanghai)
7 to 9 May Spanish GP (Catalunya)
13 to 16 May Monaco GP (Monte Carlo)
28 to 30 May Turkish GP (Istanbul)
11 to 13 June Canadian GP (Montreal)
25 to 27 June European GP (Valencia)
9 to 11 July British GP (Silverstone)
23 to 25 July German GP (Hockenheim)
20 July to 1 August Hungarian GP (Budapest)
27 to 29 August Belgian GP (Spa-Francorchamps)
10 to 12 September Italian GP (Monza)
24 to 26 September Singapore GP (Singapore)
8 to 10 October Japanese GP (Suzuki)
22 to 24 October Korean GP (Yeongam)
5 to 7 November Brasilian GP (Sau Paolo)
12 to 14 November Abu Dhabi GP (Yas Marina)

Can't wait for the start of the new season as I am bored without the adrenalin rush already.

F1 Drivers Line up 2010 - Update

Things are getting a little clearer as the year moves on with the driver line up for 2010.

As of today the following drivers / teams are confirmed for 2010

Jenson Button
Lewis Hamilton
Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes

Nico Rosberg
Driver 2
TBA Brawn GP F1 Team Mercedes

Sebastian Vettel
Mark Webber
Red Bull Racing Renault

Felipe Massa
Fernando Alonso
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

Rubens Barrichello
Nico Hulkenberg
AT & T Williams Cosworth

Robert Kubica
Driver 2 TBA
Renault F1 Team

Adrian Sutil
Vitantonio Liuzzi
Force Indai F1 Team Mercedes

Sebastian Buemi
Driver 2 TBA
Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari - TBA

TBA
TBA Lotus F1 Racing Cosworth

Bruno Senna Campos F1 Dallara Cosworth
TBA US F1 Team Cosworth

Timo Glock
Driver 2 TBA
Virgin Racing - Manor Grand Prix Cosworth

So we have some notable additions for 2010. 12 teams are shown above but to date Toyota, who are still bound by the Concorde Agreement to enter still have the 13th slot.

The return of Lotus is an evocative name in the sport and along with Cosworth I am sure they will both do an excellent job as they have proved in the past.

BMW Sauber have not yet had their slot finalised but I am sure we all wish to see Peter Sauber back in his rightful place on the pit wall as owner of his own team again. Well done Peter and all the best for the 2010 season and we all hoper to see you there.

That's all for now and I will keep updating the entries until we have the final grid line up.

(Image courtesy of www.turkeytouristline.com)

BTCC Championship 2009

2009 BTCC Awards

By way of a change this time it is appropriate for me to mention the BTCC. This series has provided we armchair enthusiasts with thrilling racing for many a year and I have watched every race avidly. The British championship offers the thrills and excitement tin tops have provided we enthusiasts with for ever. Having been there myself I suppose I will always have an affinity with the sport.


This year has seen the emergence of Colin Turkington in his BMW 320si run by West Surrey Racing headed by Dick Bennetts. Throughout the year Colin has provided we TV viewers with some outstanding drives and none more than the last race of the season at Brands which must have been the closest and most thrilling for many a year.


I was happy to see him overcome the season long challenge from Fabrizio Giovanardi and Jason Plato who again both drove brilliantly throughout the season. I was also pleased he played down the threat from Matt Neal in the last race who was there to stop Colin winning!

So Colin won the 2009 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship and it couldn't have gone to a nicer guy or a nicer team. In all the interviews we heard through the season he was pleasant, informative and above all completely realistic. Congratulations Colin on a job well done and more of it in 2010 would be appreciated.

Behind every good driver has to be a team dedicated to achieving ultimate glory. That team was Team RAC, the West Surrey Racing ran team headed by Dick Bennetts who were confirmed as Independents Team Trophy Champions for 2009, winning 348 points.

At the recent BMW Awards 2009 staged in Munich's Kesselhaus, Saturday 7 December Colin was also recipient of the BMW Sports Trophy title, presented to him by none other than Mario Thyssen of BMW F1 fame.

2009 saw 198 drivers from 24 countries score points towards the overall Trophy standings in 29 international racing series. As in 2007, Colin's performance earned him the trophy and we should all be proud of his achievement. The last time a BMW driver won the award was 16 years ago in the hands of Joachim Winklehock.

Colin's 6 victories in 2009 culminated in the final race of the season at Brands and any 1 of Colin, Fabrizio or Jason could have won. Whilst things didn't go as well as expected he scored enough points to take the championship.






2009 Autosport Awards
Staged for the 28th time in the Great Room at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane the event was sponsored by the 2010 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

Jenson obviously took centre stage after his epic drives in 2009 in becoming our second F1 World Champion in a row after Lewis's title triumph in 2008.

The second award of the night went to Colin Turkington who was rightfully named as National Driver of the Year. Saturday in Munich and now Grosvenor House on Monday, will he ever come back down to earth ready for 2010! The award was presented to Colin by none other than Tom Kristensen and our very own Andy Priaulx.

Dick and the WSR team are obviously very proud of their achievements in 2009 and so they should be. Colin & Stephen (Jelley) provided a formidable partnership and supported the team's car building efforts throughout the season. No DNF's is a quite remarkable achievement in what is a very strenuous event for the cars.

There were other notable award winners including:
Sarah Moore - Club Driver of the Year - Ginetta Junior Champion
Kris Meeke - Autosport Rookie of the Year
F1 in Schools - Autosport Pioneering and Innovation Award
Brawn BGP001 - Racing Car of the Year
Adrian Newey - John Bolster Award for Technical Excellence
Citroen C4 WRC - Rally Car of the Year
Mikko Hirvonen - International Rally Driver of the Year
Enzo Ferrari - Gregory Grant Award
Ron Dennis - Gregory Grant Award for Lifetime Achievement
Jenson Button - British Competition Driver of the Year
and finally and the highlight of the evening
Dean Smith - Mclaren Autosport BRDC Award Winner

Congratulations to all all the drivers, teams and marshalls during 2009 and we look forward to it all starting again 2010.

F1 - Silly Season Update

It’s all beginning to happen.

The final 2010 driver line up will be very interesting and probably the biggest change for many a year. Jenson is off to Mclaren and that will be a challenge for him and I have to say a mistake as he risks being put in the shade by Lewis.

Nico Rosberg is rumoured to be replacing Jenson at Brawn and with Nico being much more aggressive and in a great car it will confirm his talent. Kimi is taking a sabbatical in 2010 and interviews will never be the same, he won’t come back!

I am pleased to hear Timo Glock is confirmed at Manor Grand Prix and that will be an interesting partnership for the new team.

Flavio is claiming 1 million Euro’s in compensation and retraction of the life ban! Best of luck Flavio. Mercedes are buying 75% of Brawn and will run under the banner of the Silver Arrows again in 2010 and Mclaren say they are happy about it!

Toyota have decided to sign out after many millions over the past 4 to 5 years after being accused of trying to buy a championship. That didn't work and the current financial climate is as good an excuse as any.

And it goes on and there are those that still suggest F1 is boring, it may be sometimes on the track but off it is certainly very interesting at this time of year. There will certainly be more to come and I will continue the updates as news worthy stories come along.

F1 - Lewis versus Jenson

Firstly I must congratulate Jenson on winning the World Championship in 2009. His decision to stay with Honda, latterly renamed Brawn was well justified on balance. However, one has to ask where else could he have gone. His CV wasn't exactly illuminating and the results simply weren't there.


However, I was somewhat surprised to hear Jenson is moving to Mclaren for 2010 as he will surely be tested there more than ever before. Rubens out drove Jenson in the final races of the season and it was only the first 6 races that gave Jenson the final edge.

None of that takes away the fact he did win the championship with finally some excellent driving and particularly overtaking in Brazil, his race of the season.

From a bad start Mclaren recovered in 2009 and improved the car by a greater margin than the other teams and Lewis certainly made capital of the resurgence. He out scored Jenson by 40 points to 34 in the last 7 races and proved he is simply in a class of his own.

It is a long time since we had such a prodigious talent in F1 and one must compare him with the likes of the late, great Ayrton Senna, our Nige (Mansell) and Alain (Prost) who have nothing to prove. Without doubt 3 years at Mclaren has seem him mature and he is better for that.


Lewis's rise to fame was prolific since joining Mclaren in 2007. His record speaks volumes, narrowly missing the championship in 2007, world champion in 2008 and had it not been for the diffuser issue and Liegate early in 2009 I think he would have been champion again.

Mclaren also had to concentrate on winning the title in 2008 and hence development on the 2009 car was seriously affected.

On the other side of the fence we have Jenson who's F1 career has been much less sparkling. His winning streak has been almost entirely achieved during the initial races of 2009 where Brawn started the season with a much better car. After Brawn started the season with the controversial double diffuser they had an immediate edge.

None of this makes Jenson's achievement in 2009 less deserved but all one can say he was in the right place at the right time.

So, Lewis versus Jenson. I am surprised Jenson has put his self in this position as in my opinion he will always be No 2 following in the footsteps of Heikki (Kovalinen) who one wouldn't have thought was driving the same car in 09.

Politics and financial gain aside I would have thought Jenson would have been better stopping where he was. With Mercedes buying into Brawn at the level they have suggests they are going to be front runners in 2010 and with the rumoured Nico Rosberg behind the wheel that will be a prolific partnership.

It will be nice to see 2 British drivers in a British team but I see it being a one sided affair in the favour of Lewis. If that is the case it will take away Jenson's 2009 achievement as the pundits will suggest the controversial double diffuser won him his races.

I wish both Lewis and Jenson all the best for the 2010 season and let us all hope I am wrong.

Formula 1 2009

The 2009 Formula 1 season started in Australia as has been the norm over past years, however, controversy wasn't far away. Liegate started the problems as Mclaren were accused of lying to the stewards and Lewis was eventually banned from the results and Mclaren disgraced.

Then the Diffuser issue had to go to the world council to confirm whether the teams using the double diffuser were actually legal. Eventually the fitment was deemed legal so the teams that adopted it from the start obviously retained their edge. So, this gave teams like Red Bull, Mclaren and Ferrari on the back foot.

However, no-one can take away the fairy tail developing at Brawn. After a critical winter after Honda's retirement from the sport the Brawn team didn't even exist. Out of the ashes came the team rebadged with Ross Brawn's name above the door and the fairy tale began. Jenson and Rubens had remained loyal through the winter and the rest is history.

A drivers World Champion and consecutive British champions on the back of Lewis last year and of course the Constructors Championship. Well done to all at Brawn for a fantastic team effort.

Then came a major storm as FOTA came into conflict with the FIA. The threat was to create a breakaway championship and I cannot report any further about that as I am too close to the sport. Fortunately for us all the threat went away and a new Concorde Agreement signed to the relief of all concerned.

Then came a report that Renault had instructed one of its drivers to crash at the Singapore GP in 2008 allowing its other driver to win the race. After a major storm 2 of Renault's top men were banned from the sport, one for life and the other for 5 years.

Once again the sport was thrown into disarray but it soon went away as there were other issues developing in the background.

Max had decided he wasn't to continue as President of the FIA and 2 men came to the fore. Jean Todt and Ari Vatanen went head to head but Jean Todt won the day and took up his position straight away.

There were some great drives on the circuit and Jenson proved overtaking is possible all season long. Mclaren started way behind but Lewis scored more points than anyone else in the second part of the season. The team had advanced 2.3ish seconds from the beginning of the season and stand alone at the front.

Red Bull confirmed their class and were kneck and kneck with Brawn all the way through. Surely one of their drivers will win the championship at some point. Sebastian Vettel, having age on his side may be the one to achieve it.

Rosberg drove brilliantly all year showing Williams are not far away. New stars emerged in Jamie Alguersauri, Adrian Sutil and in the latter stages Kamui Kobayashi starred and hopefully we will see him on the grid in 2010.

On the team from Force India confirmed they are now in the mix and whilst I appreciate Fizzi's desire to drive a Ferrari one has to say it hasn't done his career any good at all and he would have been better staying with Force India.

We all welcome the new teams coming in for the 2010 season and it will be great to see the name Lotus back on an F1 grid. Let us also hope we see BMW back in whatever guise after the manufacturers confirmation it is pulling out at the end of the season.

The driver line up has still not been confirmed with only a few placings known. Fernando is off to Ferrari to join Massa on his return. Red Bull is retaining its very strong 2009 line up, Jenson has not secured his drive yet with Brawn but it is felt to be very close. The talk is that Rubens will swap with Nico but not confirmed as yet.

The rest will I have no doubt become known fairly shortly and once known I will publish it on the blog.

So by the time we came to the last race the past problems of the season gone had settled down and hopefully we can all enjoy a better start in 2010, concentrating on Motor Racing and leave the politics behind.

I will talk again soon.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Abu Dhabi and the Yas Marina Circuit, what a spectacle and I have it on first hand experience the TV doesn't do it justice. I am advised the circuit, the facilities, the approach to the circuit and the pit facilities are unknown in F1.

The circuit was obviously very smooth and needed some rubber down to achieve better grip. Being the first twilight race it presented a few problems for the drivers and they had to have special visors with tinted ones coming off when the dark came.

Quali started with the same ferocity and Fizzi did uit again, 20th and last which is quite unvbelievable accepting what he is driving. The other 4 drop outs of Q1 were both Force India's which was a surprise and of equal concern was Heikki.

Quali 2 really was no surprise as Kimi was 11th, that man Kobayashi, Kazuki, Jamie and another surpise as Fernando came in 11th. So the scene was set for a real challenge at the sharp end.

Lewis appeared to be in a class of his own and marched to pole with a fantastic lap some .5 in front of Sebastian. Then we had the main protagonists like Jenson, Mark and Rubens fighting it out for the lower places on the grid.

So it finished Lewis, Sebastian (V), Mark, Rubens (in front of Jenson again), Jenson, Jarno, Robert, Nico and 10th came Sebastian (B).

So as everyone marvelled at the surroundings Martin's grid walk with Eddie was a little different to usual and very interesting. The teams in the meanwhile were all getting ready for racing amongst all the mayhem.

The warm up lap finished off they launched into turn 1. Lewis went from the start and everyone thought that was it, what we didn't know is he was in trouble with brakes. Sebastian kept Lewis in close company followed by Mark. To be fair the race wasn't a spectacle like Brazil, just a different circuit.

Eventually Lewis was brought into the pits by the team with an offside rear brake problem yet to be confirmed what exactly happened. Sebastian went away after Lewis's demise followed by Mark which was to finish as another 1, 2 for the Red Bull team and well done to them.

Behind Mark, Jenson and Rubens were fairly close but not really in competition but that man Kobayashi was firing on all cylinders. In the latter stages Jenson began to put Mark under pressure and it went until the flag was very thrilling and Jenson very nearly took second but in the end it it finished Sebastian, Mark, Jenson and Rubens.

At least finished on the podium in his final race in his world championship season. Well done Jenson.

So the season is finished and what a season it has been for all sorts of reasons, some good, some bad. We all have to wait now until March 2010 in Bahrain for the first race of what should be a different season with no refuelling and some new blood on the grid.

Thank you to all those who have read my blog and I look forward like all of you to 2010.

Brazilian Grand Prix

In past few years Brazil has been the scene of the crowning of the world champion and we were all hoping it could be Jenson's title this year. The highlight of this years qualifying was the weather. All the cars went out in Quali 1 which caused one or two surprises to say the least.

Instead of the usual contenders we lost Lewis, Heikki, Sebastian, Nick and Vintanio.
Then the heavens opened and nothing happened for at least 2 hours and it was getting close to finishing qualifying using the grid positions from quali 1. After what seemed like an eternity quali restarted on a wet circuit.

Jenson then struggled and finished a very lonely 14th which wasn't where anyone expected him to be but in front of the even more lowly Sebastian. So Kamui, Jaime and Kazuki made 11, 12 and 13.

Off we went into quali 3 and the fight for pole. We were to have a very mixed up grid anyway apart from 1 and 2. Mark and Rubens fought it out at the front and after a thrilling fight Rubens took the pole at his home Grand Prix. Adrian shot the Force India into 3rd followed by Jarno.

Kimi followed in front of Sebastian (Buemi) in front of Nico, Robert, Kazuki and finishing the top 10, Fernando.

So into race day and whilst there was a slight chance of rain at least it started in the dry. Rubens led away from pole followed by Mark and what was to be the best race of the year commenced. There are those that suggest, including me sometimes, that F1 is boring with no overtaking.

With Jenson, Sebastian and Lewis at the back we were set for a thriller. An accident took out a very unhappy Fernando as he tangled with Adrian and Jarno and Nick also had a coming off. That took 4 out of the race and obviously moved up the 3 rocket ships coming at speed.

Lewis, Sebastian and Jenson sliced through the grid dispelling the myth about no overtaking in F1. Jenson particularly drove a fantastic race overtaking with unbelievable accuracy, nothing was to stop his dream.

So with some thrilling drives the race finished with Mark in P1 followed by Robert, Lewis, Sebastian (V), Jenson, Kimi, Sebastian (B) and the last points went to Rubens.

Jenson's 5th place was enough to take the World Championship and for the 2nd year in succession we had another British World Champion. The points of the 2 Brawn's also gave the Constructors Championship to Brawn so it was a double celebration.

I cannot end this report without mentioning Kumai Kobayashi after his first race in F1. His was a fantsatic drive to 9th and it may even give him a Toyota drive for 2010.

So what a race, great driving, tremendous overtaking and 2 championships concluded during the day.

Now with baited breath the Forumla 1 circus sets off to Abu Dhabi and the second new circuit in the desert and part of the United Emirates.

Japanese Grand Prix

So from the night race in Singapore off they all went to Japan and the Fuji circuit. Quali 1 saw the usual protaginists go out with the exception of Mark who just couldn't get it right and the same for Fernando. The other 2 were Romain and Vintonio and the luckless Timo who had a big accident and couldn't carry on after his visit to hospital.

So, Toyota were down to 1 car as Jarno progressed onward into quali 2. The usual protagonists were at the front locked in battle with maybe Sebastian (Vettel) having the edge. Quali 2 saw no real surprises as Heikki was 11th followed by Jamie, Sebastian (Buemi), Fizzi and Kazuki.

So, the top 10 shoot out commenced with an almighty battle at the front. After a great battle for top between Sebastian (Vettel), Jarno and Lewis it finished in that order followed by Nick, Kimi, Rubens, Nico, Adrian and the again out of form Jenson.

The race didn't bring out any real surprises as the top 3 on the grid finished in the same position on the grid. Kimi drove well and finished 4th followed by Nico, Nick, Rubens, a lowly Jenson and the top 10 finished with Robert and Fernando.

The result in Japan tightened the points and put Sebastian into second ahead of Rubens and now in closer touch with Jenson.

Singapore Grand Prix

So here we are at the race which has caused much controversary of late with the allegations that Renault forced Nelson Piquet Junior to crash at last years race (2008) so Alonso could win. The resultant FIA Council meeting concluded that Flavio Briatorre would be excluded from any involvement with events controlled by the FIA for life and Pat Simonds for 5 years.

Nelson Piquet was however given immunity as he was the one who offered the information to the FIA. I still find the saga difficult to accept within the sport I love and feel Nelson should have a penalty. He was the one that crashed the car at the perfect moment to allow Alonso, who had just pitted, to go on and win the race after the Safety Car period.

As if F1 hasn't had enough controversy over the past 2 seasons we are then faced with what has been called the worst act of its type in sporting history. Let us all hope we can finish the 2009 season off without any other controversy and that we can get back to the sport and start again with a clean sheet in 2010.

Back to F1. The teams came to Singapore with the 2009 World Champion in the balance. Battle was once more joined between, Red Bull and Brawn. Quali 1 saw a change for the first 5 drop outs as we saw Heidfeld, Liuzzi, Grosjean, and Alguersauri and the luckless Fizzi who just can't get to grips with the Ferrari. It is sad but Fizzi simply hasn't got there yet and doesn't seem to be any nearer.

Quali 2 came as a disaster for Jenson who finished 11th and not happy with his lot as once again he was outpaced by Rubens. The same luck applied to Kimi who coudn't get the Ferrari set up so both Ferrari's failed to get into Quali 1. So we lost Jarno who was again outpaced by Timo in his flying Toyota, Buemi, Adrian Sutil, Jenson and Kimi.

Into Quali 3 and without doubt Lewis was the star of the day. He launched his Mclaren into pole with a lap untouched by anyone else. His nearest challenger was the usual Sebastian Vettel who finished in P2. Nico was flying and put his Williams into P3 closely followed by Mark Webber. Alonso followed Mark and Timo (Glock) in his Toyota just pipped Robert (Kubica) and to finish off it was Heikki, Rubens and Kazuki.

Into race day and Lewis remained hot favourite and from the flag he was never really headed apart from pit stops. Timo drove a hero's race into second and he really had the Toyota humming and the same applied to Nico until he came out of the pits and crossed the dreaded White line. As is normal with this offence it brings an automatic drive through and put him back down to 11th.

The title contenders were basically locked together finishing in line astern with Sebastian (4), Rubens (5) and Jenson (6). This result tightened the championship and they went to Brazil with all 3 still in the fight albeit Jenson still has the edge.

So after returning to the scene of the Renault debacle last year all went off without a hitch, off to Japan.

Hungary - The race

So on race day we had no further news about Felipe apart from that he had surgery for his cracked skull and was still in an induced coma. However, when brought out of the coma he was able to recognise his family which is great news.

The grid formed for the race and there was huge anticipation about the KERS on the Mclaren's being able to push them to the front and whilst Lewis launched it to 2nd into the first corner he was passed by Webber as Fernando shot off into the distance. However, a great piece of driving from Lewis soon put him into second and he set off after Fernando.

As Fernando was only fuelled to lap 13 he was really not a threat so had the prospect of a Mclaren victory from early on in the race. Lewis went from strength to strength and once Fernando's first pit stop was completed he was never to be headed.

Sebastian (Vettel) eventually retired his Red Bull and then disaster for Fernando as he felt something wrong with the right front wheel which eventually came off bringing back memories of the Surtees disaster the previous weekend. The news then came that Renault had received a 1 race ban so they will not be in Valencia.

A stirling drive from Kimi kept the Ferrari in 2nd throughout most of the race showing that maybe they are nearer the front again which is great news for the championship. Talking about the championship Jenson was again struggling with tyres and complaining over the radio to the team with Rubens struggling even more finally finishing 1oth and nil point.

So we had Lewis disappearing at the front followed by Kimi, Mark and another stirling drive from Nico. Heikki basically ran in 5th all day but was threatened in the latter stages by Timo in a rapidly closing Toyota. They were followed by Jenson, Jarno, Kazuki and Rubens.

So after an eventful weekend it appears that Brawn have lost something but Mclaren have gained a lot along with Ferrari. It is obviously nice to see a mix of winners and particularly when Lewis is up at the sharp end. Both Williams are now more consistent and the Red Bull's are still up at the front.

The rest of the season now looks very interesting and both Kimi and Lewis could be Jenson's greatest friends by denying the Sebastian & Mark better points in the championship. Martin Whitmarsh must also be thrilled with his first win as CEO and so he should be.

The championship has tightened up with less than 20 points between Jenson (70) and Mark (51.5) who took over 2nd place from Sebastian (47) with Rubens 4th (44), Nico now 5th (25.5) and Trulli 6th (22.5).

I am not suggesting Lewis can win this year but a few more wins with defaults from the major players, he could finish up with a reasonable world champion season. After his start he could do with something to brighten his season. His mood changes completely when given a winning car and let us all wish him well for the rest of the season.

I apologise for copying the following content but I feel in Felipe's situation it is better to print exactly what has been printed on the website.

BBC Forumula 1

Ferrari's Felipe Massa's condition is "severe but not critical" after surgery on his fractured skull in Hungary.

Surgeon Robert Veres said that Massa, 28, suffered damage to his left eye when he who was hit by a spring from Ruben Barrichello's car on Saturday.

"The immediate life-threatening condition has been averted but a complication could make it life-threatening again," said Veres.

"I am sure (his eye was damaged) but we do not know the extent yet," he added.

Massa, 28, who was hit by a spring from Ruben Barrichello's car on Saturday, is able to communicate "actively" and move his hands and legs but cannot speak.

A Ferrari spokesman said: "Felipe had a quiet night. He is OK, and he is due to have another CT scan today (Monday)."

A Hungarian hospital spokesman said they are "optimistic" that a "slow recovery is beginning".

"He's woken up [from sedation] more often and is able to communicate actively," added Istvan Bocskai, a spokesman for the Hungarian defence ministry, which administers the Budapest hospital where Massa is being treated.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo will fly to the AEK military hospital on Monday to be at Massa's bedside, alongside the driver's father, mother and pregnant wife, who have all flown in from Brazil.

In closing I am sure the above can put at least hope he will return to full fitness.

Hungary Quali

Firstly our thoughts go out to the Surtees family after the tragic accident to Henry at Brands Hatch. This freak accident just shows how dangerous motor racing still is as the wheel off one of the other competitors cars hit him on the head.

What brings it home even more is the spooky freak accident to Felipe Massa only a week after when a spring from the rear of Rubens Barrichello's Brawn bounced down the circuit and was collected by Felipe who, it appears finished up with a fractured skull.

All the signs are that Felipe will fully recover but as I write he is still in an induced coma. Whether he will drive again seems to be in doubt and their is talk of him being replaced by, wait for it, Michael Schumacher and that would be a real revelation.

Anyway that is unimportant compared with Felipe's complete recovery and our thoughts go out to the Massa family in the meanwhile.

On a somewhat sombre note after Brands the F1 circus goes to the tight Hungaroring noted for no overtaking which the drivers seemed to ignore all weekend.

We, I am sure all welcome Jaime Alguersauri to F1 who is the youngest driver to take an F1 seat and obtain his super license. He has replaced the luckless Sebastian Bourdais at Toro Rosso or maybe even STR -Ferrari, and as the 2008 Formula 3 champion he has been brought in under the Red Bull young driver program and he seemed to be consistent during his first run.

There was the usual fight to see who was to lose out in Q1 and apart from Alguersauri who broke down it was the Force India's and again the BMW's who just don't seem to be able to get things right. One expects better from BMW and I wonder what is being said in Germany about their continuing in the sport through these difficult times.

On into Q2 which is where Felipe had his accident and I don't think we should dwell on that. The loss of the spring in Ruben's car meant he couldn't progress to Q1 and the team launched an immediate inspection to find why and he finished 12th.

The Red Bulls's, Mclaren's (isn't that nice to be able to say) and Williams's were having an almighty fight at the top with Rosberg in P1 at one stage. Q2 saw the demise of both Toyota's, Nelson in the 2nd Renault, Rubens and of course Felipe.

On into Q3 and the same 6 cars were fighting it out but this time, with a lightly fueled Renault it was Fernando who put the Renault on pole followed by Sebastian (Vettel) followed by Mark, Lewis and Nico and then Heikki, Kimi. Jenson seemed to having tyre problems again and finished a lowly 8th and then rounding out the top 10 it was Kazuki and Sebastian (Buemi).

Albeit all the drivers were concentrating on the job in hand all the talk was correctly about Felipe and the only news we had post quali was that he was in hospital and stable. We desperately await good news.

F1 Germany

My apologies firstly for missing my blog for the British Grand Prix but I have been heavily involved in moving my man around during the F1 crisis talks. The infighting still goes on but there is a solution and hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.

Germany was a good Grand Prix and the Red Bull's are really showing their prowess over the Brawn's. It always looked as though Lewis could do something from 5th off the grid with his KERS and he certainly shot to the front and could have been leading into turn 1.

However, on his meteoric path through Mark Webber caught his rear right wheel and what ensued was a puncture which basically ended Lewis's race but we can all take heart that the Mclaren's are back and fighting at the sharp end again.

Mark had a strange start as before he caught Lewis he had side swiped Rubens for which he was to get a drive through penalty. The Red Bull strategy and Rubens lack of pace meant Mark was soon back at the head of the field, a position he was never to relinquish.

There were good scraps all the way down the field but the Red Bull's were on top all the way through and finished 1,2 again. Massa had a good race eventually finishing 3rd but he had badly affected Rubens' race through the middle stint.

Nico had a good race again finishing 4th and looking at his results he is now very consistent finishing the last 2 races in 5th and before that a 6th. Both Brawn's were locked in battle in the latter stages and there was never a doubt Jenson would come out the better of that and he did crossing the line in 5th with Rubens behind him.

Rubens had his usual go at the team, of course accusing them of favouring Jenson and the heavy days at Ferrari come to mind whilst he was number 2 to Schumacher.

So an eventful race ended with the championship tightening up slightly but Jenson leaves Germany still with a 21 point lead over Vettel with Mark only a further 1.5 points behind with Rubens a further 1.5 points behind.

The next circuits certainly favour the Brawn's as they need warmer temperatures for the tyres to work properly so Hungary will be very interesting as it is of course where Jenson took his first win in a Honda which seems to be eternity ago.

In the constructors championship Brawn still have a lead of 19.5 points so it is getting very interesting in both sides of the championship. Bring on Hungary.

F1 2010 and the New Teams

The grid for 2010 is still not settled albeit there are now entries from the existing teams in 2009. McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota and Brawn have entered on mass as FOTA (Formula One Team Association) but the entries are subject to them lifting conditions they placed on their entries by next Friday, June 19. What those conditions are is for Max Mosley and FOTA to know.

Williams, Force India and Ferrari are not a part of that and their entries are secure. Williams have had their membership of FOTA recinded until final agreement has been reached between FOTA and F1 but I haven't heard that about Force India or Ferrari!

So, after a lot of speculation we now know we have 3 new teams on the grid for 2010 and they are Campos Grand Prix, Team US F1 and Manor F1. Accepting the current 20 cars are on the grid that will give us a full 26 car grid for 2010 and should introduce some interesting racing.

No one is sure what the full regs will be but maybe we will know after 19 June. The new teams in brief.

Manor F1 Grand Prix. Former single seater champion, John Booth established Manor in 1990 when he decided to form his own team. Their successes include 171 Race wins and 19 Championship titles in formulae such as Formula Renault and the F3 Euroseries.

Based in the UK they have 2 sites, one in Sheffield and the other in Bicester. Its technical innovation is characterised by the fact that the race cars are designed, tested and refined entirely in the digital domain using the processes originally developed by Wirth Research Limited (WRL).

As Technical Director of Manor Grand Prix Racing, Nick Wirth founded WRL (Wirth Research Limited) in 2003, a company specialising in research, development and manufacturing in the high technology sector. Their designs won both the 2004/5 Indy Racing League (IRL) championships as well as being instrumental in producing winning designs in the American Le Mans series.

Nick Wirth has an impeccable background initially with March, Simtek F1 and Chief Designed for the Benetton F1 team. To compete in 2010 an engine deal has been agreed with Cosworth and it will be great to see them back on the grid.

Campos Grand Prix. Launched in 1998 Campos was launched in 1998 by ex-Formula One driver Adrián Campos. Campos has won six driver championships, five team championships and currently holds the GP2 Series 2008 title.

Their HQ is in Madrid where the marketing and admin are run. The technical centre is based at Campos Racing’s current headquarters in Valencia, 25km from the Ricardo Tormo race track.

As part of its application to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, Campos has also agreed an engine supply deal with Cosworth and technical partnerships with Dallara Automobili and Xtrac.

Team US F1. With 30 years of motor sport experience, team Principal Ken Anderson including designing and constructing multiple Indy 500 and IndyCar Series-winning race cars. This is a real departure for F1 bringing an American Team into F1 as it has been proved Indy 500 and the Indy car series are a different ball park to F1.

Fellow team director Peter Windsor is known to us all having worked in F1 for over 35 years as team manager for Williams-Renault team, manager for Ferrari’s F1 chassis and suspension departments and as a consultant for F1 drivers Nigel Mansell and Carlos Reutemann.

As part of its application to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, US F1 has agreed an engine supply deal with Cosworth.

Cosworth. I don't think Cosworth need any introduction to we petrol heads after 50 years in engine design for most racing teams at one time or another throughout the world. It is a name synonymous with motor racing and has been missed from the recent grids. All the new teams to F1 have opted to use Cosworth engines and I have no doubt the parterships will flourish.

I am sure we all wish the new teams every success. One has to congratulate Max Mosley on his management of this process and hopefully pre Silverstone all will be known about 2010 and beyond.

F1 Turkey - The Race

Welcome to Turkey 2009 on the fabulous circuit at Istanbul Park. What Turkey needs now is a F1 driver to pull in the crowds as to date that is not happening. The same happened with Spain until Fernando came along and then they poured in by their thousands, lets hope someone comes along to fire that interest in the Turks.

So, we had Sebastian (Vettel)on pole with Jenson hot on his heels and Rubens lurking. All went well on the warm up lap with the usual tyre warming antics. There were concerns again about the Green walled tyres not lasting and certainly all the teams preferred the harder tyres. They have to run both types of course and it was just a matter off choice against pit stops.

Most teams went for the hard tyres from the start but Fernando thought better and started on the the softer Green walled jobbies, mistake or not? It did mean once the first stint was over he could run the rest of the race on the hard tyres but by then maybe it was too late. Most of the teams on the hard tyres at the start finished the last stint on the softer tyres, so just a matter of strategy.

Off they went at 1300 UK time into the first corner which is blind on the approach very similar to Brazil. Sebastian (V) retained his pole into the first corner quickly followed by Jenson, Mark and the rest.

It was thought Rubens may beat Jenson to the first corner on the better side of the circuit but whatever he did in the car caused it to go into anti-stall and he went backwards very quickly to about 13th.

In the meanwhile Sebastian (V) got corner 9 all wrong and Jenson pounced into the lead which he was never to relinquish. In his plight to move forward Rubens was having a very adventurous afternoon banging into people with gay abandon. Then he announced he had lost 7th gear and his race was basically done and on lap 47 he finally retired from way down in the pack.

Jenson and Sebastian had their first pit stops and as Sebastian was on a 3 stopper he was lighter than Jenson and pulled right up to the Brawn's tailpipes. He tried always to get past but Jenson was too canny for that and Sebastian remained in the dirty air of the Brawn to the next pitstop and he was gone.

Mark was on the same strategy as Jenson and once Sebastian had his pitstop's he lost P2 to Mark and it remained that way to the finish. Sebastian had a call from the pits confirming "Mark is faster than you so hold position", that didn't fool anybody so what about team orders "did you hear any!

Behind these 3 Jarno and Nico had a race long battle with the former coming off best but a great showing form the Williams and had it not been for a hiccup in the pits Kazuki would have also been in the points.

The Ferrari's were again disappointing with Felipe running 6th the whole race and just not able to get in touch with Jarno and Nico. Kimi had a miserable day and finished a lonely 9th and nil point. Robert (Kubica) had a better race for BMW finishing in the points with 2 points for 7th.

Timo (Glock) took the last point so both Toyota's finished in the points which bodes well for them with Nick (Heidfeld) finishing in 11th. At least the BMW's have come on since the past few races where they finished last or almost last.

What about the Mclarens we ask ourselves. Well Lewis stared from 16th and finished 13th ahead of his team mate who started one place in front. The car is a dog and one had only to watch the on board with Lewis coming through turns 8, 9 and 10 to see why. He obviously has a complete lack of confidence in the car as he simply has no grip.

The team say they are building a new car and it will be out in Germany but one has to suggest they may have to work a few more hours and get it ready for Silverstone in 2 weeks or it will be sad for all the Lewis fans at this home GP.

They worked so hard in the final stages of last year to win the championship they simply haven't had the time to work on the 2009 car, this is Mclaren we are talking about!

So, Turkey finished up another Jenson / Brawn benefit. In the drivers conference Jenson said the car was fantastic and probably the best it has been all season. Both Mark and Sebastian agreed with that and a tribute to the team and that man Ross Brawn. Maybe Mclaren should get Adrian Newey back from Red Bull to put Lewis back up at the sharp end.

Lets hope Jenson can do the same on his official home grand prix at Silverstone and the fans would then have 2 drivers to shout for albeit one at the front and one at the back.

Just 2 retirements this time for Rubens and Giancarlo with Jenson taking the fastest lap with a 1.27.279, an average speed of 219.422.

Well done Jenson and one wonders if this glorious season is ever going to end with 6 wins out of 7 starts equalling Schumacher and Ascari a long while ago. He is going to take some catching now with his closest rivals being Rubens, 26 points behind and Sebastian (V) 32 behind. He is going to have to drop out of the points on many races now for others to catch him.

Brawn are a country mile away in the constructors championship now on 96 points being 40 points ahead of Red Bull and then after that it is Toyota on a far away 32.5 points.

Bring on Silverstone and let us all hope Lewis has a car rather than a tractor!

F1 Turkey Quali

Well here we are at Istanbul Park for the Turkish Grand Prix. With its 5.33km lap and 14 corners Istanbul Park has a total race length of 309.396km's.

The lap record is held by Montoya from as far back as 2005 which shows the difference in speeds as in 2009 the pole lap is 1.28.316 by Sebastian Vettel. Istanbul Park is an anti-clockwise circuit like Brazil giving the neck muscles a real pounding. After Monaco the teams and drivers look forward to stretching their legs back to a normal weekend.

So, 12 o'clock UK time quali began with a flurry of drivers hoping to get into the top 15 but as usual a top name went. As with Monaco, but for different reasons Lewis just hasn't got the car beneath him to put in the times. Mclaren are simply going to have to find grip from somewhere as the car looks very unstable and back end happy.

I believe Lewis is lacking confidence in the car and one cannot blame him, it is a beast. The usual protagonists were at the sharp end with Ferrari now beginning to mix it with Brawn, Red Bull and Williams. Nico hit the front for a time followed by Nakajima but status quo soon followed.

Sutil got through into Q2 dropping the luckless Lewis down into 16th which shows just how bad the Mclaren is. Piquet complained of no brakes, which could be a problem in one of these rocket ships and finished in the gravel, so his day was done. So after quali 1 we lost Lewis, Nelson, Sebastien (Buemi), Fisi and Sebastien (Bourdais). It appears you would have an advantage with a name such as Sebastien's and certainly at Red Bull / Torro Rosso!

Off into Quali 2 and the front 6 were fighting cat and dog at the sharp end, swopping places throughout the session. Trulli, who has always been a one lap specialist shot in a surprise by taking P1 but was soon to be overhauled by the top 6 but there or thereabouts. The BMW's were shaping a little better with Robert always ahead of Nick.

Jarno's lap put him into P2 at the end of the only topped by Sebastian (Vettel) followed by the 2 Brawn's, what's new. Heikki was shaping up only a little better than Lewis and finished Q2 in 14th place so the 2 Mclaren's will be behind each other on the grid. What they can do from there is really in the hands of the other drivers.

So we lost Adrian (Sutil), Heikki, Timo, Kajuki and Nick in his BMW. With little surprise we had the 10 to go through to Q3 and battle was to commence. Q3 didn't create much drama and not many were getting Green sectors due to the fuel levels now in the cars set for the race. Sebastian, Jenson, Rubens, Mark and Jarno were trading places throughout the 15 minute session.

Mark had come alight and headed the field, then it was Rubens, then Jenson and he must have thought he had it but he had not accounted for Sebastian who was on a charge and pipped him by a mere 100th of a second.

So we have a Red Bull, Brawn front row and finishing positions were Sebastian (Red Bull), Jenson (Brawn), Rubens (Brawn), Mark (Red Bull), Kimi (Ferrari), Felipe (Ferrari), Fernando (Renault), Nico (Williams) and finally Robert in his BMW.

So the Kers cars are back in the field and shouldn't worry the 4 away from the start and one would have to put money on Sebastian hitting the first corner first. However, it is always difficult until we know what fuel levels are in the cars and one has to say the Brawn's are usually supreme in race pace.

Let's hope we have a thriller.

Monaco Grand Prix

Over the Monaco weekend there were many talks about the budget cap for 2010. All the teams are at least in agreement with the cap on spending but how it's done appears to be the issue. Reading between the lines it now transpires the budget cap won't be applied in full until 2011 with reductions in 2010.

The breakaway series appears to have gone away so at least we are sure of F1 continuing in its present form as all we armchair spectators want it to. My concern is all the changes are going to water down the sport and the politics are getting worse which I am sure the sport does not need.

With a further meeting, 27 May, it will be interesting to see which of the teams lodge their 2010 entry as the only team to enter at this point is Williams.

Anyway, back to the race. It was an interesting race with mixed strategies which always make it interesting. Jenson shot off pole into Ste Devote and never really got challenged from there. In the meanwhile Rubens had a great start and beat Kimi into the first corner and he never really relinquished that position either.

After a shakedown the Ferrari's gathered behind the Brawn's and again were never really challenged finishing three (Kimi) and four (Felipe). They have closed the gap on Brawn and the best showing of their season so far. The cars looked sharper, more driveable and definitely much more on the pace.

Lewis struggled all day from his lowly grid position, made even worse by a gearbox change. He finished a lowly 12th and again nil points. Heikki on the other hand had a strong start faded to 7th and then hit the wall at the swimming pool, knocked off the nose and out he went, an incident very similar to Fernando's accident during quali.

Behind the Ferrari's Mark (Webber) drove a great race to finish 5th followed by a resurgent Nico who finished in his grid position of 6th. Fernando said his car felt better as the race went on to come in 7th and the last point scorer was Sebastien (Bourdais) earning a point for Toro Rosso.

Nelson Piquet was enjoying a good race until Sebastien (Buemi) decided to push him off the circuit into the armco at Ste Devote, so both were out.

Vettel started on super softs and was soon presenting a mobile chicane for many stuck behind him. Eventually he had to come in early as the tyres were shot. A lot of the teams were surprised how quickly the super softs went off and caused some strategy changes for the teams.

Vettell eventually attacked the armco at Ste Devote and his race was run. BMW continued their bad luck season with Heidfeld complaining the car wasn't quick enough and Kubica pulled out with brake problems.

So the race finished with Jenson (First) and Rubens (Second) and another Brawn 1,2. A rather amusing finish as Jenson decided he would ignore Monaco protocol and drive into the customary pit lane rather than the Monaco scenario of driving to the finishing lane and parking in front of the royal box.

Even after 78 laps around the streets of Monaco he was seen running to the start/finish lane which caused a little hilarity but confirms his fitness level.

So a Brawn 1,2 a Ferrari 3,4 followed by Red Bull, Williams, Renault and the last point to Toro Rosso.

Can anyone catch Jenson who now leads the championship by 16 points from Rubens on 35 and then the luckless Vettel at Monaco who has only 23 points. The constructors championship is obviously led by Brawn on a massive 86 points with their nearest rival (Red Bull) on a lowly 42.5.

One has to say it is not over yet but his points lead after 6 of 17 races is huge and it will take some failures from Brawn to water down such a massive lead. The reliability of the Brawn's to date has been exemplary to date and lets hope for Jenson and Rubens that continues.

So off we go to Turkey and what a thriller that will be with Ferrari coming back, Red Bull still improving, Williams getting nearer and let us all hope Mclaren find the downforce which is so sadly lacking so far this season.

Monaco Quali

Well here we are at the glitz and glamour of Monaco for the most evocative race on the F1 calendar. This street circuit is one of the most challenging for the drivers with close barriers, the tunnel where vision coming out is an issue and the challenge of overtaking.

It looked like Lewis was going to be on top of the list except he dropped it going into Mirabeau on the bump and swiped the rear left corner. So that was him down to 16th and taking no part in the qualifying hour.

Up at the sharp end it was destined to be a fight between the Brawn's, Red Bull's and Heikki in the remaining Mclaren with Fernando in there and fighting with his Renault. Jenson seemed to be taking things very slowly and didn't really figure in the early running. So, in quali 1 we lost Lewis, both Toyota's and both BMW's. One has to ask where are BMW as their season has been miserable to date and one suggests drastic changes have to be made and quickly.

Into quali 2 and the fight continued at the head of the field with Rosberg now putting in some scintillating laps and we were in for a showdown. There were no surprises in the top 10 as we lost the Toro Rosso's, Force India's and Nelson in his Renault.

So let battle commence as the last 15 minutes started. Again Jenson wasn't showing his hand as Rubens led the pack with Kimi in close pursuit. What was Jenson doing floundering around but he obviously had the game in hand. At the last minute he threw in a lap that was to put him on pole and where he got that from no one knows.

So the finishing order in the top 6 was Jenson, Kimi, Rubens, Sebastian (Vettel), Felipe and Nico showing good form in the Williams. Heikki showed well in front of Mark, Fernando and Kazuki.

So lets hope for a good race with plenty of the usual Monaco excitement.

F1 Barcelona - The Race

Sorry the post is late but life has been hectic over the past 2 weeks. So off we went to Barcelona for the first European race of the season. The front end of the grid is becoming the form cars for 2009 with Red Bull, Torro Rosso with a Ferrari for a change up at the front.

Albeit concerned about the KERS cars off the grid the 2 Brawn's were off but this time Rubens went into turn 1 in the lead closely followed by Jenson. Then came carnage behind them as Trulli went off onto the grass and came back across the track in front of Sutil and Bourdais ran into, or climbed over the back of Buemi. So we lost 2 Torro Rosso's, a Toyota and a Force India.

This brought the safety car out whilst they cleared up the debri. Then a pattern started to emerge as Rubens was off away at the front followed by Jenson, Vettel, Webber and Massa. It seemed they were all on 3 stoppers which Ross Brawn had confirmed was the quickest strategy.

With plenty of scraps down through the field the first pit stops arrived and in they swooped. All done and status quo resumed. Barrichello, Button, Vettel, Webber, Massa and the rest. Apart from a few scraps in the mid field the status quo remained until the second tyre stops.

The pace that Rubens had been running now seemed to go away on the third set of tyres and in the meantime Brawn had swapped Jenson to a 2 stop strategy rather then Rubens' 3 which went down like a lead brick with Rubens. However, the 2 stop strategy was still the right one.

So now Jenson took over the lead hotly pursued by Mark, Rubens, Felipe and Sebastian who was, for him frustratingly stuck behind the Ferrari. Unfortunately Lewis had a bad afternoon and really wasn't at the sharp end all day.

Nick (Heidfeld) and Nico (Rosberg) were always in the points and drove a good race throughout. In the heat of battle Kimi went missing with electrical problems so off to the garage for his shorts and an ice cream, Kovalinen only lasted 7 laps for the gremlins took over so that made the 6 retirements of the day joining the first 4 on lap 1.

So the run to the flag was on and after Mark's (Webber) final pit stop Rubens took over P2 and was never to lose it behind Jenson.

Felipe had fuel problems in the latter stages i.e. lack of and was told by the pits to slow down so as not to run out prior to the end. It appears the refuelling rig, banned for 2010 didn't dispense the correct amount of fuel and to bring him in for it would have taken any chance away. As it was he finished 6th after letting Sebastian and Fernando through.

That was at least a pleasant sight for Sebastian as he had been looking at the Ferrari double diffuser all afternoon so can tell the pits all about it, ha ha.

So yet another 1,2 for Brawn and Jenson's 4th win of the season, the 2 Red Bull's took 3rd and 4th with Fernando, Felipe, Nick and Nico making up the top 8 points positions. Rubens recorded the fastest lap at an average speed of 202.484 so at least something for his day out at the office.

So now it's off to Monaco for all the razzle dazzle and what hopefully will be a thrilling race. So many thrills with La Rascasse, Lowes, the tunnel and the swimming pool complex at what should be a great event as usual.

I remember watching a program about Jackie Stewart saying that when he came out of the tunnel into the then different chicane he could smell the grass every time he went past, wow. There was evidently a patch of grass on the harbour side to the left of the first part of the chicane and he could smell it with each circuit.

Monaco here we come.

F1 Barcelona Quali

Quali was always going to be a tight affair here and it turned out 1.7 seconds beyween pole and 20th. It was also to be a race which could tell us who has season pace and who hasn't after the first 4 fly away races.

I have to mention the total cock up once again by Ferrari leaving Raikonnen at the rear of the grid and not progressing to Q2. It appears that Kimi has taken responsibility for the grid position and one has to question his commitment to his team.

He says "I wasn't really keen on going out again, I thought we had done enough", well as far as I am concerned he should vacate his seat and give it to someone who does have the commitment.

It was always going to be a fight between Brawn, Red Bull and Toyota which has been the pattern from the start of the season. However, Massa has at last found some pace and he will be in perfect position to use his KERS for the start and if he can get into Turn 1 in front Barcelona is a circuit where he can dictate the pace.

Jenson came out on top and took pole with Sebastian Vettel hot on his heals. But what about fuel, Vettel it appears has 2 more laps of fuel than Jenson which could make all the difference throughout the race. Rubens and Felipe followed in 3rd and 4th with Mark and Timo taking row 3. Jarno and Fernando took row 4 with Nico and Kubica rounding out the top 5 rows.

Kubica has at last found some pace in difference to his team mate Heidfeld who finished down in 13th. This was at least a better showing than Bahrain where they took the lowly positions. What about Mclaren? Lewis finished 14th with Heiki not even making Q2. The Mclaren just doesn't seem to have enough downforce to make a challenge and we will have to wait to see if they can find it.

It looks as though Lewis won't be able to fight to retain his world champion status this year as races come and go without points. Let's hope KERS can help in through the race, it will be interesting.

So I am ready for the start and hope it's a great race to herald the teams back to Europe.

Formula 1 Back in Europe

Firstly I would like to pass on my commiserations to Max Mosley after the recent loss of his oldest son, Alexander. Irrelevant of the circumstances it must be a hard time for Max and our thoughts are with him during these difficult times.

Well here we go, the F1 circus comes to Europe for the first time in 09 with this weekends Barcelona GP. The big question on everyone's mind is whether the big four of previous years can come to terms with Brawn, Toyota and Red Bull.

Mclaren seemed to be pinning the breakaway 3 last time out in Bahrain albeit their overall race pace wasn't a match for Brawn, Red Bull and Toyota. They still need more mechanical grip and one cannot believe they are not on the case for this weekend. Whilst they say upgrades have been fitted already I am sure they will find more.

Ferrari have been in the doldrums all season and only narrowly missed its worst start to a GP season with Kimi's 6th in Bahrain. They relied on the success of banning the new diffusers and once that failed they were faced with a complete rebuild. They are to introduce a new update package in Spain which will include a new wing package and of course the thing tried to ban, the new diffuser.

BMW have had a miserable start to 2009 finishing at the back in Bahrain. It is supposedly introducing a major aero update although it states its double decker diffuser won't be available for the weekend. They need a breath of fresh air from somewhere as Heiidfeld and Kubica are not happy with their lot.

Renault will also bring a new aero package to Barcelona along with all the others. After an interim diffuser in China, remember it was flown across in Falvio's jet, it expects further aero parts to be available for Spain.

So, the fight back starts albeit the first 4 races have been and gone. Brawn, Toyota and Red Bull will also be bringing improvements to their cars in Spain so it will have to be a mighty leap from the big 4 of yesteryear to put them in front.

Ross Brawn's pedigree in recent years with Ferrari proves he is a whilly old fox and since the start of the season he has proved he hasn't lost anything after his sabbatical.

We all want to see the 7 teams fighting for supremacy and at least if the big 4 narrow the gap then we are in for some thrilling races for the rest of the season. As the grid is covered by a mere 2 seconds now quali should be very interesting spectacle.

I must also mention the other teams who are sometimes forgotten. I think we all had high hopes for Williams as both Rosberg and Nakajima have the equipment to get it done but almost flatter to deceive. Toro Rosso who have the car to fight at the front albeit Bourdais, who's position is in question, doesn't match Buemi's pace, so far anyway and we are all willing Force India to show progress, not for us but for them.

The next 3 races in Spain, Monaco and Turkey will lay down the gauntlet and by Britain we should know who's got what and why. Lets hope all these bits bring the cars closer together and that we can have some great racing amongst the top teams.

Circuit de Catalunya has a track length of 2.892 miles and with 66 race laps the distance will be 190 miles. The track consists of 16 corners and as the teams do a lot of testing here they should be familiar with the intricacies of the place. There is one thing for certain, downforce is needed here in abundance for the high speed corners.

News stories of the week.

At a World Motor Sport Council meeting last week Tyre Warmers and Refuelling will be outlawed from 2010. This Green incentive will of course encourage engine builders to improve fuel economy all adding to reducing costs in the longer term. The short term cost saving will of course mean teams will not have to carry around expensive refuelling rigs.

As we all by now Mclaren escaped a race ban but have a suspended ban hanging over its head, let's hope they can now keep it clean.

Cost capping has been very much at the front of everyone's mind of late and it appears £40 million is now the target figure. This whole question is very complex and we will have to wait developments as the story roles on.

Whilst F1 doesn't like being mentioned in the same article as A1, I have to mention the achievements of Adam Carroll after winning the A1 champ. His last outing at Brands, the last of the season after Mexico was ruled out because of Swine Flue, saw him with 2 poles and 2 wins outfoxing Switzerland to land the crown. Well done Adam.

Well that's all for now and I look forward to blogging over the weekend.

Ayrton Senna Anniversary

Last Friday (1 May) is the 15th Anniversary of the death of what maybe the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time, Ayrton Senna da Silva. This Brazilian was to make a mark in F1 that was difficult to emulate even by the great Michael Schumacher with whom he is always compared.

As with most of the F1 drivers Ayrton came from Kart Racing, onto Formula 3 and eventually onto F1 in 1994 with the Toleman team. He moved to Lotus in 1985 and had 3 seasons with them with differing results although many podiums.

Then he moved to Mclaren in 1988 and won his first world championship. That was to be followed by a further 2 in 1990 and 1991. He left Mclaren and moved to Williams in 1994 in controversial circumstances between himself and Alain Prost.

The first 2 races of the season were not good for him, in fact his worst start to a season. Onward he went to San Marino where on Friday, during the afternoon qualifying session, Senna's protege, the then F1 newcomer Rubens Barrichello, was involved in a serious accident that prevented him from competing in the race. The next day Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger was killed in qualifying. but unfortunately was killed in at the San Marino GP in that year.

Having put the car on pole the drivers were put behind the safety car after a huge pile up at the start. Senna then set the pace with his now great rival Michael Schumacher behind him. As Senna entered the Tamburello corner at 137mph his Williams left the track and hit the retaining wall. After being airlifted to hospital he was pronounced dead later in the day.

Ayrton Senna is the last driver to die at the wheel of an F1 car, a testament to the pressure he started towards driver safety.

During his career he had 3 world championships, 41 races, 80 podiums, scored 610 points and has 65 poles. One wonders what would have happened had he been around more in the early years of Michael Schumacher's career, all we can do is ponder the thought.

Mclaren suspended ban

The FIA's World Motor Sport Council met on the 29th to discuss the Australian lie-gate affair after the first meeting of the season. At the council meeting on the 29th Mclaren were given a 3 race suspended ban in light of the ‘open and honest way’ in which team principal Martin Whitmarsh addressed the Council on Wednesday, and will only be applied if further evidence emerges, or there is another breach of the International Sporting Code.

I think the events of Melbourne 2009 have been well publicised but the implications of Mclaren's actions went through the Formula 1 fraternity like a hot knife through butter.

Post the stewards meeting in Melbourne, team manager Dave Ryan was suspended and Lewis was placed in a very tenuous position. He apologised for his actions during the week leading up to Malaysia but this has damaged his career for certain.

A little like Michael Schumacher, unfortunately we only remember the bad times and don't reflect on the good. A similar issue will apply to Lewis and we will await with baited breath for the end of the season. Lewis says his allegiance stays with Mclaren but I am not whether his father Anthony agrees, we will see.

We also saw the move away from the Formula 1 team of Ron Dennis to concentrate on the development of the new road car. Ron has been a huge part of the success of F1 and whilst he had moved sideways at the beginning of the season passing the reins to Martin Whitmarsh I personally find it sad we don't see him anymore.

Let us all hope this is the end of the legal ramblings to the start of the 2009 season and let's get back to racing without the umbrella.

Formula 1 Race Results Information

The story behind the Scorpion F1 website section and its involvement with SiriusPro.

My daughter Simone and son-in-law Chris launched SiriusPro some 5 years ago and are web programmers and search engine specialists in the UK and Spain. They produced the Scorpion website and I have had many compliments about its structure, ease of use and content. Through my long term interest in Formula 1 I asked if we could include a section on the site dedicated to F1.

For several years now I have produced a chart showing race by race points for both Drivers and Teams. The chart monitors race by race points, totals to date and retirements as well as grid to flag positions. The analysis is printed out after each race and goes into my car for my many motor racing customer fans. This chart is now available on the Scorpion website for you all to enjoy.

View our comprehensive Formula 1 Race Results Information and keep up to date with the news and data from all this season's formula 1 races.

The website shows race by race points for both drivers and teams as well as a complete schedule for the current season. I update the results shortly after each race and it shows quite clearly the ups and downs for all the drivers. You can now also look at stats from 2006 to monitor the progress of the drivers and teams over the past 4 seasons.

Whilst many sites publish points to date, I personally find it very interesting to look at the progress of drivers and teams as the season progresses. It is also interesting to look at the grid to flag analysis as well as the progression of drivers throughout the race which I call grid movers.

I can tell you at the moment Bourdais has the best grid to flag progression as follows:

• Australia 17th to 8th


• Malaysia 15th to 10th


• China 15th to 11th




• and the last race in Bahrain he went from




• Bahrain 20th to 13th

This gives him a total of 25 points as I allocate points from 1 to 20 for both race and grid.

I do believe this is the first time anyone has allocated points all the way down the field and it certainly throws up some interesting statistics. Should anyone wish to have a copy of the current standings please drop me an email and I would be happy to let you have a copy.

Formula 1 Race Results: Email

Back to our website which not only shows the full name of the drivers but their race number, tyre choice (which for this season is all Bridgestone anyway), points per race and total to date, retirements, grid position, race laps completed and the fastest lap. As I enter the latest results the positions are adjusted automatically to show the top driver and team.

The 1/2 points allocation for Malaysia didn't help at all but Chris has overcome the 0.5 points entries to reflect that on the site and I can't remember the last time that happened in F1.

To make the site more interesting for F1 fans it has links to the F1 Official website as well as the BBC F1 and ITV F1 sites. The tabs at the bottom of the Scorpion home page also include a link to Formula 1 news by way of keeping us all up to date with current events.

Obviously the site is under constant review to see how we can make it better and one of these days I will have the courage to ask Chris to expand it to contain the more diverse data I produce after each race. It is obviously more difficult on the website than using an Excel spreadsheet but we will get there one day.

I hope you will enjoy the Formula 1 Race Results we have been preparing and please do give us feedback!

Bahrain GP

So the F1 circus arrives in the heat and sand of Bahrain for what was to be the hottest and at least dry race of this very wet season to date. The practice days came and went showing several front runners including Toyota, Red Bull and of course those 2 Brawn's. Lewis looked a little happier as his Mclaren seemed a little more on the pace, Ferrari are still off it and one has to question the bullishness of BMW pre season.

The diffuser row was still at the forefront of every ones mind with aggression coming from Renault and Ferrari in particular. When it comes down to it the row is a difference in interpretation of the new regs. I suppose one could suggest those that didn't get it right are bleating because they aren't as quick but the playing field is the same for all.

There are those suggesting Ross should stand down as technical director of FOCA because of his interpretation of the regs but one has to ask what would have happened had the boot been on the other foot. There has to be a school of thought that if the regs didn't make it clear hence creating a grey area there were always going to be differing interpretations.

KERS is also causing a lot of problems but more cars adopted it for Bahrain and certainly Lewis had a benefit out of the box into turn 1. There does seem to be a split in the paddock about the for's and against's of the system and we will have to wait and see as the season goes on. Mclaren appear to have a very stable system but I have no doubt it is the dearest!

So with all the talking over it was down to qualifying on Saturday with anticipation of a very tight fought contest. The Toyota's, Red Bull's and Brawn's were fighting it out for pole but with 2 secs covering the grid it was always going to be tight.

Mark Webber was baulked by Sutil on his last flying lap and so didn't make quali 2 but one has to question the regs allowing a penalty which didn't affect Sutil but yet seriously compromised Mark's entire weekend. Is there not a fairer way than this?

Sutil did find Mark and offer his apology which was a kind thing to do but the affect stays the same. It went to the stewards and Sutil was docked 3 points which put him back to 19th which was no penalty at all. So apart from Mark we lost both Force India's and both Toro Rosso's which sadly for them is the norm.

Into quali 2 and the nerves were tingling as they all launched themselves around Bahrain. What a session we had in the next 15 minutes which seemed more like an hour. The times were spell binding and as the track rubbered in after the rain the times came down and down with the lead constantly changing.

The result of this epic was we had to lose another 5 and those that fell on stony ground were the troubled Nelsinho Piquet who is fighting for his drive, both BMW's, Nakajima and the luckless Kovalinen. However, we at last had both Ferrari's in the top 10 at least looking more competitive.

So the gladiators were assembled for the final 15 mins shoot out for pole and in the heat of Bahrain they were going to earn their coffers. The Toyota's, Brawn's, Red Bull (Vettel) traded places lap after lap but with Lewis never far away.

In the end the Toyota's clinched it with a 1, 2 on the grid but whilst Trulli is a brilliant 1 lap specialist could he retain it through the race? On row 2 Vettel pipped Jenson for 3rd, on row 3 Lewis came in front of Barrichello, on row 4 Alonso nipped in front of Massa and Rosberg did a sterling job to knock Raikkonen down to 10th on row 5.

So the spectacle of the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in the heat and sand of the desert was set. The Crown Prince was on the grid to support all the teams and he has created a magnificent world stage which F1 is privileged to be a part of. What were the tactics. fuel loads, tyre choices and the rest of the intricacies going to bring?

The start was awaited with anticipation and what a start. The Toyota's got the jump from the front row but with the help of his KERS Lewis made a great start up to third only to make a slight error to allow Jenson back through. The Toyota's seemed to be going into the distance but their strategy let them down again and after the first stop they fell back.

Up front it was Jenson, Sebastian, Lewis, Rubens, Fernando and Kimi fighting it out. Jenson seemed to be in supreme control and with a brilliant Ross Brawn pit stop strategy he seemed to be going away. However, they all had to change to the medium tyres which did not perform as well as the slicks.

It was always the case that any of the top 5 could have won the race but in the end it was Jenson again followed by Sebastian, Jarno after a great recovery drive, Lewis with a great drive and Rubens who wouldn't go away.

There was only one retirement as Nakajima came out with mechanical problems, Felipe had a KERS problem which dropped him down the grid and not able to recover but what about the BMW's in 18th and 19th places, oh dear.

The Toyota's came out with 3rd and 7th so not bad, Fernando finished 8th for a point and at last Ferrari got their first points with Kimi and I am sure a welcome sight. The Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is not impressed with his lot and of course blames the new regs which doesn't earn any points. Points make prizes and they are simply not in them at the minute, not enough anyway.

Leaving Bahrain Jenson must think all his birthdays have come at once. He now leads the points with 31 and his nearest rival and some 12 points adrift is his team mate, Rubens. Vettel, Trulli, Glock, Webber and Hamilton follow but Hamilton is only on 9 points with work to do.

Brawn obviously lead the constructors with 50 points and their nearest rival is Red Bull on 27.5 followed very closely by Toyota on 26.5 and then it is Mclaren but only on 13.

So after all the talk about having not tested the Brawn's in a dry race the pundits have been proved wrong. They showed them in Aussie in the fading light, aquaplaned their way through Malaysia and China and then finally showed them in a full dry race in Bahrain.

I think that suggests the car is a championship winning car but once back in Europe the pressure will start to grow as the other teams start to bolt on extra goodies. It is always difficult with the fly away races as the opportunities to develop are limited. Renault even had to remove the seats out of Flavio's jet to get parts to China which shows the seriousness of what is going on.

Mclaren still have their troubles and have to face a council meeting on the 29th relating to liegate in Aussie and we wait with baited breath for the outcome. Let us hope after the 29th the formalities and political infighting go away and we can return to what is an exciting season.

So the first 4 have gone and we are back into Europe and what we have seen so far this season is a testament to the new regs which have created closer and more competitive racing. Bring it on F1 for the rest of the season.