F1 Silverstone Race

Welcome to race day at the home of the British Grand Prix. In glorious weather this is going to be a hot day and we Brits must be a little disappointed with Lewis in fourth and Jenson a lowly fourteenth after commenting his Mclaren was undriveable during qualifying.

It was great to see Sir Stirling being interviewed by the BBC team and wonderful to see his recovery after falling down the lift shaft at his home. The fans came out in force and it is a feature of the British GP and the drivers were in awe of their presence. It was also nice to see Lewis with his Dad and that there is no animosity between them.

The new look Silverstone will add to the challenge for the drivers and this weekend Nigel Mansell is on the FIA Stewards panel in case of queries or problems. Silverstone is a wonderful spectacle and has never looked better and a compliment to Damon Hill and his development team.

After the problems in Friday pre qualifying Mclaren removed the blown diffuser as it didn't work which made it difficult for Lewis and Jenson as they didn't get the running time in the changed trim.

A lot of controversy again at Red Bull after they came with only two new front wings and after Sebastian's broke they took Mark's off and put it onto Sebastian's car. That would suggest Red Bull have made a decision to support Sebastian which has caused condemnation in the pits.

Nobody seems to be giving anyone a chance against the Red Bull's but I think Lewis will have something to say about that and obviously ring the neck of his Mclaren at his home grand prix. The season suggests the red Bull's have had reliability problems for one or both of the cars and nothing can be taken for granted.

We have an interesting start to look forward to with conflict between Sebastian and Mark on row one after the spoiler issue, needle between Fernando and Lewis after they didn't hit it off as team mates on row two and Jenson staring fourteenth. Michael had a good qualifying session and is close to Nico compared to recent results and accepting one wants to first beat your team mate that could add a little spice. Throw in Robert in the Renault and Rubens in the Williams and all is set for a great race.

The tyre blankets come off and the warm up lap starts as the fans in the grandstands are flying a mix of flags flying around in the somewhat breezy conditions. Back to the grid all cars managed the warm up lap without hitch and we are ready for the start.

Charlie Whiting has a fantastic view over the pack and off they go. What a start, Sebastian went off with a puncture, Lewis moved into P2 as he launched past Fernando who went backwards after a bad start and when the two Ferrari's came together Felipe finished up with a puncture, Jenson came up to eighth at the end of lap one and Robert up into P3.

Mark then stabilised the position between himself and Lewis up in front and what else can happen as Sebastian is now dead last after this tyre change from the soft to the premium tyre, will that play out through the race.

After ten laps it was Mark out at the front and moving two and a half seconds away from Lewis, Robert comes next but one and a half seconds off the pace and in front of Nico, Fernando, Rubens, Michael, Jenson and Kamui in ninth.

Then we had the first round of tyre stops which benefited Jenson up to fifth whilst Mark and Lewis retained their positions out front with now five seconds between them. Now we had Nico in third followed by Fernando who then received a drive through penalty for an overtaking move on Robert who subsequently had to retire with a broken diff.

Then we had a safety car period to pick up debris from the circuit and this will negate any gaps between the field. When the safety car came in Lewis set off behind Mark and as Fernando went in to serve his penalty it brought Jenson up to fourth and accepting Nico has a barge board missing Jenson could finish up on the podium, we keep our fingers crossed.

Adrian passed Michael who obviously didn't like it and he lost a front wing end plate in the process of trying to stop him. Sebastian was now up to twelfth place after he was helped by the safety car.

After his penalty Fernando was not out to take prisoners from his now lonely sixteenth and sent an instruction to the pits he didn't want any more radio communication as he was to run his own race to the finish. On new tyres he put in some stunning laps and managed the fastest lap of the day on the now rubbered in track.

Mark managed his pace out front with a five second difference between him and Lewis albeit they are trading fastest lap after fastest lap in the mid 1.32's. Sebastian is still coming but his move forward was slightly held up by Adrian in his Force India.

Rubens was still driving well and running in fifth behind Mark, Lewis, Nico and Jenson and in front of Kamui, Adrian and Sebastian. The Mclaren team then confirmed Jenson is running short on fuel and hence the reason he wasn't able to close in on Nico.

So at the chequered flag Mark had driven from pole to finish and we didn't see a great deal of either him or Lewis finishing in second and a great result after all for Mclaren. Some great drives throughout the field including Jenson going from fourteenth to fourth, Sebastian who went from last after lap one to seventh but a bad day for Ferrari who weren't in the points for all sorts of reasons.

When Christian Horner spoke to Mark on his slowing down lap after the flag Mark commented not bad for a number two driver as he just proved a point. As the drivers met prior to going onto the podium they donned their promotional hats and watches and chatted happily after a great grand prix. So it was a win for Australia, a second for Great Britain and a third for Germany albeit all the cars are built in the UK.

The winners trophy was presented by the Duke of Kent who always officiates at the British Grand Prix and Sir Stirling presented the trophy to Lewis to the sounds of tumultuous applause from the crowd, presumably for both of them.

Whilst it was little processional at the front there were some great drives behind them. Well done Mark and poetic justice after the insult of the spoiler change yesterday.

Fernando is not well pleased again after his penalty and latter puncture even to a point he was furious enough not to talk to anyone after the race. All he needs now is for Spain to lose the World Cup Final tonight and his day will be complete!

After a great British GP the drivers left with Lewis still heading the chart on 145, Jenson 133, Mark 128, Sebastian 121, Fernando 96, Nico 89, Robert 83, Felipe 67, Michael 36, Adrian 35, Rubens 29, Kamui 15, Vitantonio 12, Sebastian B 9, Vitaly 6, Jamie 3, Nico H 3 and finally Pedro 1.

In the constructors championship Mclaren left Silverstone with 278 points followed by Red Bull 249, Ferrari 163, Mercedes 125, Renault 89, Force India 47, Williams 32, BMW 16, Toro Rosso 12 and Lotus, HRT and Virgin still left without a single point.

So not a lot changed at the front of the drivers and constructors and only Mark moving ahead of Sebastian was of any consequence. The battle at the top still rages with all the teams trying to match the pace of the Red Bull's and when they get it right they are pretty unstoppable. It was only Lewis who offered spirited resistance today and one feels he is the only one who can maybe apart from Jenson.

Now we are off to Hockenheim and the German Grand Prix in two weeks and "if" Mclaren can get the blown diffuser working properly we may see them approach the speed of the Red Bull's. What is unusual is that Red Bull always seem to have something that affects one or both of their drivers and I suppose that is a blessing or it could become boring at the front of the field.

Bye for now and enjoy the great spell of weather we are experiencing.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

F1 2009 - the first 3 races

Well here we go in Melbourne for the first race of the 2009 season. The controversy over diffuser's has created rather a disappointing start with teams like Ferrari objecting in particular to Brawn, Toyota and Williams's interpretation of the 2009 regs. Brawn caused a sensation with pole and 2nd on the grid and it is nice to see Jenson back in a competitive car. The start time of the race caused a few problems with the sun very low but all in all a tremendous result for Ross, Jenson and Rubens. One wonders what Honda are thinking!

So, a fairy tale start to the season and one can only admire Jenson's loyalty to Honda and then Ross Brawn for creating the package and putting his name above the door, well done to all concerned at Brawn GP.

After the race all hell let loose after a race incident under safety car conditions between Lewis and Jarno resulting in a stewards enquiry over 3rd and 4th. It all got very complicated after Lewis and his team manager, Dave Ryan were accused of, in effect lying to the stewards and have now been summoned to a FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting 29 April for bringing the sport into disrepute. The result is that Jarno was promoted back to 3rd and Lewis disqualified.

Well, well, well, off we go again with another Mclaren controversy which is not the best way to start the 2009 season. I am personally not sure why the lies were attempted as Lewis overtook Jarno legitimately after he went off the circuit and then Lewis was advised over the radio to let him by again, but this was an error. However, the stewards have access to the team radio so lying was fruitless. In any case Lewis had at the worst 4th but would have been legitimately promoted back to 3rd under appeal.

The result of all this is Lewis later apologised to the worlds media for lying to the stewards enquiry, Mclaren have sacked Dave Ryan and Ron has finally thrown in the towel to concentrate on the development of a new car in a separate division. One wonders where this is going after 29 April.

So off the F1 circus heads to Malaysia for race 2 the following weekend under somewhat of a cloud. Putting the Mclaren incident aside until after the 29th there was much talk about running the Malaysian GP too late in the day and that proved to be the case, hindsight is a wonderful thing!

Brawn showed Melbourne was no fluke with Jenson once again on pole but Rubens had to take a 5 position drop after gearbox problems in quali. With every sign of rain later the grid went with a real ding dong battle at the front but Jenson was still in the lead when the heavens opened and ski's would have been better than tyres. Ferrari changed Kimi's tyres to full wets too early so when it did rain they were shot, bad call Ferrari.

So out came the safety car and the teams formed back on the grid in no semblance of order awaiting information from Charlie Whiting about what was to happen. The track was flooded and the cars and drivers were to put it mildy, soaked. Kimi had in the meanwhile gone back into the garage and was walking around in a pair of shorts eating an ice cream suggesting maybe he didn't want to go out again!

One strange issue, which I have personally never seen before in 50 years of F1, was the race clock stopped when the initial red flagged came out. Martin Brundle in the com box commented this was strange and as far as he was aware not the correct procedure.

This suggests it was always Charlie Whiting's intention to run the race over its course of either time or laps, however the rule is normally x laps or 2 hours. After what seemed an eternity, discussions between the teams, drivers, stewards and Charlie Whiting the race was finally red flagged and only half points issued. Half points was a shame for Jenson but there was no real alternative as you cannot drive F1 cars with so much standing water as was witnesed when showing the plumes of water coming from the Toyota.

So with the first 2 races completed the order was Jenson (1), Rubens (2), Trulli (3) and Glock (4) so Brawn & Toyota locked out the top 2 for the constructors. Lewis had only 1 point for his Malaysia 7th but Ferrari for the first time since the 80's had no points at all and things were not looking good for them.

KERS has been a new initiative for 09 and there have been many differing thoughts about how useful it is. Yes, it gives another 80 hp when needed but the weight penalty can out weigh the benefit. For instance Nick Heidfeld is running it in his BMW but Robert Kubica isn't as he is much heavier, Kimi has had problems with his setting on fire leaving the paddock a little split on which is the optimum.

My feeling is they should all have to run it or not and then it is fair across the board. Whilst it is seen as a Green initiative the costs are also extreme in these times.

The diffuser legality question went before the FIA International Court of Appeal, 15 April with the following statement "The FIA International Court of Appeal has decided to deny the appeals submitted against decisions numbered 16 to 24 taken by the Panel of the Stewards on 26 March at the 2009 Grand Prix of Australia and counting towards the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Based on the arguments heard and evidence before it, the Court has concluded that the Stewards were correct to find that the cars in question comply with the applicable regulations"

Well at least that is over and some of the teams, including Ferrari are now faced with a complete redesign of the car to gain the half second advantage supposedly given by the 2 plane rear diffuser. My feeling is the cars should be submitted to the stewards prior to the race season and any issues relating the the regs settled at that point.

Off the circus went to China for race 3, April 19 and a 2 week break this time with Brawn the most talked about team in the paddock. It was always obvious to me Ross Brawn would do something spectacular for 2009 as his talent personifies.

The 09 grid has been turned upside down with the new regs and the front running teams are Brawn, Red Bull, Williams and Toyota. With the 20 car grid covered by a mere 2 seconds it is for all to fight for.

China saw the emergence of Red Bull and after a 2 week break many of the cars had modified bits on them including Mclaren, Renault and most teams dropped KERS including Ferrari. After a tremendous quali Vettel was on pole with a light fueled Alonso on the front row with him. Following onward it was Webber (3), Rubens (4) and Jenson (5) with Lewis only in 9th.

The race started in the rain under the safety car on full wets and that alone spoiled Alonso's race with his light fuel load. So on lap 4 the cars were released from behind the safety car and it was race on with plumes of water for all to see. The drivers really earn their money under these conditions as visibility was certainly at a premium.

All the drivers stuck to the full wets and that didn't really change apart from Rosberg who tried inters later in the race but to no avail.

Vettel led from pole and never relinquished it leaving it to Webber to fight latterly with Jenson over 2nd and 3rd. There were some interesting battles mid field with Glock, Trulli, Raikkonen, Kovalinen and Lewis.

Massa was more competitive but eventually his car died with water inhalation and he just spluttered to a halt. Another disastrous weekend for Ferrari as Kimi could not get into the points either. Lewis had a spirited drive going off at least three times in the very wet conditions and then climbing back up the field. For once he finished 6th behind his team make Kovalinen.

So after 2 fairy tale races for Brawn GP we now had the second fairy tale of the season as Red Bull won their first GP and a1, 2 as Webber came in 2nd. Christian Horner should also be very proud of the achievement and what must DC be thinking from the com box?

The 3rd Red Bull (Toro Rosso) also added to the joy with Buemi coming in 8th for the last point. Whilst Brawn didn't do as well it is all relative as they did come in 3rd (Jenson) and 4th with both of them still heading the drivers championship.

So we leave China behind with top teams like Ferrari, BMW and Renault with a lot of work to do before the 4th fly away race in Bahrain, April 26, only a week away. After Bahrain it is back into Europe for the first time and we all look forward to Barcelona 10th May.

For those of you who like to keep in touch with F1 please go to my website (www.scorpion-eph.co.uk) and click on the Formula 1 tab at the base of the home page. There you will find race by race points allocation with a compilation of the season to date.

I produce a separate Excel analysis after each race and should you want a copy please email me at peter@scorpion-eph.co.uk and I will email you one with pleasure.

Can't wait for Bahrain and let the season continue with exciting racing and different winners so we armchair viewers can enjoy competitive racing. I personally can't wait for Mclaren, Ferrari and BMW to get back to the front and then we could then be in for a real battle.