F1 Melbourne Race

After the boring if not tiresome race in Bahrain expectations were high for Melbourne and we weren't to be disappointed. From the flag it was exciting all the way to the chequered flag and those who questioned the format for 2010 were certainly silenced for now anyway.

A rain shower before the start brought out the intermediate Bridgestones which caused some very early incidents. So, with a Red Bull front row, Ferrari-Mclaren second row, Ferrari-Mercedes third row, Mercedes-Williams fourth row and Renault-Force India fifth row it looked like being a thriller. Lewis sat back in eleventh and that was never going to stay like that.

Down went the flag and some 20,000 thousand horse power launched from the grid. Sebastian held his position but was ultimately followed by Robert, Felipe Nico as into turn 1 Michael, Jenson and Fernando came together and Lewis pounced through the mayhem.

There was also a coming together between Kamui, Sebastian (Buemi) and Nico (Hulkenberg) which took out all 3 and resulting in our thankfully only safety car of the day and first of the season. Jarno also didn't complete 1 lap and retired his Lotus with hydraulic problems which was a shame as both Lotus cars finished in Bahrain.

In the melee between Fernando, Jenson and Michael, Michael had to come in for a new front spoiler which really spoiled his race. Lewis on the other hand had a great start launching himself through the mayhem into sixth.

Upon resuming after the safety car on lap 5 Sebastian was out out in front from his pole position and the big question was who was to make the first pit stop onto slicks. That decision was taken by Jenson in a very brave move which was to win him the race albeit he went off almost straight away after changing his tyres.

In the mayhem Fernando had spun out at the first corner and was recovering through the field with a rapid rate of knots. By lap 8 there was a rush to the pits as the teams knew the pace Jenson had set once his tyres came up to temperature. After the pit stops with tyres up to temperature it was Sebastian with a 1 second lead over Jenson followed by Robert ahead of a very tight battle.

Nico, Felipe, Mark, Lewis were locked in combat as further back Fernando was recovering from his earlier revolution. Sebastian appeared to have things under control at the front as he and Jenson extended their lead over Robert in 3rd who had his mirrors full of Lewis on the rampage after passing Mark & Felipe.

In the meanwhile we lost Bruno with hydraulic problems on lap 4, Vitaly on lap 9 after a spin into the gravel trap which fortunately didn't bring out the safety car and Adrian with engine problems. Further on in the race we also lost Lucas with hydraulic problems and Timo with suspension failure.

Then out of the Blue Sebastian appeared to drive straight into the gravel trap which turned out to be an extension of the braking problems he had for a couple of laps. So Jenson was now in a lead he was never to relinquish.

Now deep into the race and the order was Jenson, Robert, Lewis, Mark, Felipe, Fernando and Nico. Then came a call from the pits asking Lewis to pit for tyres and he was not a happy man. No-one is sure why Mclaren called him in and he was the only one of the front runners who pitted.

This dropped him down the order but his fresh rubber meant he was lapping faster than all the others but out of track position. He was locked into battle with Mark but both were closing very quickly in the latter stages on Fernando, Felipe and Robert. All of the teams had graining on the rear tyres but Jenson's smoother driving style meant he fully in control up front.

On his new tyres Lewis had passed Mark and quickly came up to the rear spoiler of Fernando with a slippy slidey Ferrari. He tried everything in the book to get past and in doing so this let Felipe and Robert off the hook. Obviously Lewis had a problem on his hands with his front full of Ferrari and his mirrors full of Red Bull. Mark then overshot turn 13 and punted Lewis and himself off which let Nico through to fifth behind the Ferrari's.

Mark had to return to the pits for a new nose cone which put him back to ninth and was subsequently told off by the stewards for the collision. Lewis managed to go on and finished sixth and for the second time in the race not a happy bunny.

Throughout the race there had been some great scraps and none more so than Jamie and Michael and I am sure Jamie never thought he would be scrapping with the 7 times world champion. Liuzzi again had another great drive to bring home the Force India in seventh after passing Pedro's BMW in the process.

So, after an absolutely thrilling race Jenson (25 pts) drove supremely and finished some 12 seconds ahead of Robert 2 (18), Felipe 3 (15), Fernando 4 (12), Nico 5 (10), Lewis 6 (8), Vitantonio 7 (6), Rubens 8 (4), Mark 9 (2) and the last of the points went to Michael 10 (1) after overhauling Jamie.

Leaving Melbourne the drivers championship is still headed by Fernando with 37 points followed by Felipe (33), Jenson (31), Lewis (23), Nico (20), Robert (18), Sebastian who must be the unluckiest driver to date (12), Michael (9), Vinantionio (8) and Mark (6) rounding out the top 10.

The constructors championship is still headed by Ferrari (70) followed by Mclaren (54), Mercedes (29) with Red Bull and Renault tied on 18 points. They are followed by Force India (8) and bringing up the rear of the points scorers are Williams with 5.

I have to say Jenson drove a brilliant race having taking the very brave decision to change tyres so early in the race. I have to give him full credit for this race but we missed an opportunity of seeing a dog fight between himself and Lewis which did seem on the cards. I think if it came to that Lewis would either win all or lose everything.

So after much talk in the press about the boring start to the season in Bahrain and with only a week to go before Malaysia, I am sure none of we armchair F1 fans can wait and we will be riveted to our screens no matter where we are in the world.