F1 Race Barcelona

After the thrills and spills of qualifying now it is time to go racing in Catalunya. With the usual protagonists up front can they create a less boring race than we normally have in Barcelona.

One wonders whether the home grand prix scenario can help Fernando at home, can Michael move forward and beat Nico, can Lewis retain his race position ahead of Jenson this time and what about Mark keeping ahead of Sebastian, a lot questions to be answered in the first European Grand Prix of the season.

Martin did his usual excellent grid walk and also as usual upset Tanya from Sky Deutsland by butting in to talk to Nico Rosberg. The weather is at least dry for the start albeit it was mentioned there could be rain sometime during the race. There is a head wind down to the first corner so it could be interesting. It was also great to see Ron Dennis in the pits for a change.

At the start the track temp was 34 and most cars, if not all started on the Green walled tyres as they have to use their final tyres in qualifying at the start. We lost Heikki from the grid with a gearbox full of neutrals and had to be pushed into the pit lane. The grid launched from the start and the only real loser was Nico Rosberg dropping down to 12th.

In grid order they went with Mark keeping ahead of Sebastian then Lewis, Fernando, Jenson and Michael. We really needed a car between the two Red Bull's into turn one to create a fight at and Lewis was nearly there but pulled out into turn two for safety. A little excitement at the back end as Jamie had a fabulous start and launched himself into ninth.

After lap ten the first five were getting well spread apart and our worst fears of a procession were going to be realised. The two Red Bull's were really in a class of their own with Mark doing fastest lap after fastest lap and at this stage and even Lewis's best efforts couldn't close down Sebastian. The only real question is how much fuel do the cars have and could that make a difference.

The first round of pit stops came and went with some notable changes: Lewis passed Sebastian in a heart stopping moment into turn one passing one of the Virgin cars, Jenson lost out to Michael and Nico had a wheel nut problem and had to be pulled back into this slot dropping him to seventeenth.

A good scrap after the pit stops between Michael and Jenson with Michael's experience allowing him to keep Jenson at bay but for how long. Lewis as usual is driving his usual aggressive stance and keeping Mark at bay whilst moving away from Sebastian.

The first four were still spread out at half distance but the gap between Mark and Lewis was now 11.5 seconds. One a half seconds between Lewis and Sebastian was constant as was the same between Sebsatian and Fernando. Michael still managed to keep Jenson being him even after every spirited effort by Jenson to get by and Felipe was still running close to them both.

Vitaly and Kamui were also locked in battle whilst Jamie was given a drive through for, in effect driving over the front of Karun sending him to the pits for a new nose cone. Mark was still hanging it out at the front and even on worn tyres lapping now in the 1.25's.

It did seem strange watching the two Formula 2 drivers, Nico (R) fighting with Nico (H) for fifteen and sixteenth and Mclaren must be very dissatisfied with the weekend as they are not making inroads into the top teams albeit Michael is fifth but some two seconds slower than the top teams.

Sebastian (V) then came into the pits with what appeared to be a loose right front wheel and obviously that dropped him some 16 seconds behind Fernando and even with new tyres he is likely to stop there. Red Bull then played safe again and have cleared the pit garage ready if Sebastian has to retire. Once again the Red Bull - Vettel jinx plays its hand.

Then came the message from Sebastian's pit crew "beware you are about to lose your brakes" which I am sure is not what Sebastian wanted to hear! Lewis then speeded up in case Mark suffer with the same problem. I can only assume the problem with the brakes is a worn and thinning brake disc and Mark had that problem in a previous race.

I recently had that on my Touareg and it is quite scary, whilst my 3 litre Tdi Touareg has steel discs the Red Bull's certainly don't as they use carbon brakes. Once a brake disc gets thin it starts to get very warm and bends very easily, the result of which can be disastrous if it explodes.

Then a very sad moment for Lewis as he had a puncture on the final lap which shot him off into the gravel trap and he lost his nearside front suspension. That moved Fernando into second place on his home territory which will please the fans and Sebastian into third after all the problems with brakes in the latter stages. Jaime also drove brilliantly finishing in the points at his home grand prix.

So, a different result to what we thought. Mark took the flag with a little weave across the circuit and he must be very pleased. I have had a lot of comments about it being a boring race but I disagree which only confirms we all look for different things.

Leaving Barcelona the drivers championship looks like this: Jenson (70), Fernando (67), Mark (60), Nico (53), Lewis and Felipe (49), Robert (44), Michael (22), Adrian (16), Vitantonio (8), Vitaly and Rubens (7), Jamie (2) and last but not least Nico H (1).

In the constructors championship the points are as follows: Mclaren (119), Ferrari (116), Red Bull (113), Mercedes (72), Renault (51), Force India (24), Williams (8) and again last but not least Toro Rosso (2).

After a late change in places it is now off to the bright lights and glitz of Monaco next Sunday, a race that always brings surprises.