F1 Spa Race

Welcome to race day in the Ardenne Forest and the 4.3 mile Spa Francochamps circuit for the thirteenth race of the 2010 season. After the mix of weather of qualifying the weather for the start looks as though it will be changeable again.

A great celebration this weekend for Rubens as he celebrates his 300th Grand Prix start and along with me I am sure you all wish him all the best for his future. He has always been such a lovely man but when he drops the visor it's business as usual. Hugely talented, a credit to his Brazil and now he is setting great laps and results for Frank Williams and the rejuvenating Williams team.

I always felt sorry for Rubens during his time at Ferrari running second best to Michael but he simply got in with the job and carried on regardless. Back in the early days in the lower formulae he has always had raw speed and whilst he did get nine wins at Ferrari that really belied his talent. Congratulations Rubens and carry on giving us the pleasure you always have.

Back to Spa as the cars leave the pits for the grid. Having just watched Mark's wonderful pole lap it shows how accurate one has to be around this 44 lap, 4.3 miles circuit. I run the F1 2009 championship on the Wii and have picked up a few tips and for those who have Wii please buy the program as it is a wonderful, realistic challenge.

After quali yesterday some of the teams are struggling for tyres including Sebastian who has only two sets of inters for the race if the rain comes. Martin did his usual excellent job on his grid walk and talked to a lot of the drivers including Sebastien, Jenson and Mark. Plenty of talk about the launch into the first corner and then of course down and up Eau Rouge which is a daunting corner.

I have stood at the bottom of Eau Rouge and the TV gives no real appreciation of how steep it is. Let us not forget the drivers will be launching into Eau Rouge on lap one and onto Kemmel with no testing time on full tanks due to the mix of weather during qualifying.

Mark commented he is concerned about Lewis behind him into Au Rouge as you would be and it will be interesting to see who succeeds. The other interest will be Fernando in a lowly tenth with Felipe up ahead in sixth and how will Ferrari play that?

So with a track temperature of 20/21 and air temperature of a lowly sixteen degrees the sky seems to be getting darker. Most of the drivers are on the softer, Green walled tyres and the weather will play a major part as the cars launch from the grid for the warm up lap.

The lights turned Red and Lewis went straight into P1 as Mark had a slow start. All went well into turn one and up Eau Rouge to but as they approached the bus stop at the end of lap one as most of the drivers went off on the wet surface and unfortunately Rubens went into the back of Fernando and his race was finished.

After lap one Jenson went past Robert and up behind his team mate so Mclaren into one and two. Then the safety car was deployed to clear the mess in the bus stop chicane and after it came in Sebastien passed Robert into P3. Lewis shot away at the front with Jenson in close pursuit.

Lewis seems to be in a class of his own and is flying being more than a second ahead of Jenson on a 1.53 on lap five. Mark is still stuck behind Robert but the stewards are investigating an incident between Sebastien and Robert and we await the result.

Jenson has a problem with damage on the front of his Mclaren and Sebastien is closing in on him on lap eight whilst he changes things in the cock pit to stabilise his damage problem. Lewis is going away at the front and in a class of one and now nearly five seconds ahead and should Jenson and Sebastien start to fight that will make it better for him.

Fernando is coming through the field after his pit stop after his coming together with Rubens and on lap ten running in fourteenth. Lewis is taking nearly a second away up at the front and driving like we know he can.

After fifteen laps things are stabilising at the front with Lewis out on his own followed by Jenson, Sebastien, Robert, Mark and Felipe but rain is forecast in Stabilo in ten minutes so there is a long way to go in this race as the rain will mix it up.

As in his usual style Sebastien got it all wrong again and shot straight into the side of Jenson and Jenson was out. Sebastien must learn you only win races by crossing the finishing line and his move is under investigation by the stewards. Sebastian dropped down to twelfth after going straight across the track into the pits for a new nose but Jenson got no further than turn eight.

The stewards then announced Sebastian had a drive through penalty for causing an unavoidable accident which is what he deserves. Robert seems to be putting distance between himself and Mark on lap twenty two who seems to be sitting and waiting. Felipe is also sitting comfortably running in fourth but Fernando is down in ninth.

The weather is getting cooler as the air temperature drops to fifteen. Mark then does his first pit stop on lap twenty three and rejoins in fourth whilst Robert, Lewis and Felipe haven't. Then Robert came in on lap twenty four and came out in front of Mark again followed by Felipe who came out in fourth as he was.

Lewis then came in the following lap and rejoins in his first place with nineteen laps to go and he really is in a class of one again. The Force India's are driving superbly as Adrian swept past Michael along Kemmel into Les Coombes, so easy.

The Mercedes are running line astern with Michael ahead of his much younger team mate. On lap twenty seven Sebastien once again had an issue in the bust stop chicane as he drove around Vitantonio and caught his rear tyre on Vitantonio's front spoiler giving himself a puncture but destroying Vitantonio's front spoiler causing him to pit once again.

Sebastien has a lot to learn and he must lose his imperious nature and calm down as he always seems to affect others rather than just hurting himself which is not good for those around him. His reputation if this continues will not do him any good with the other drives and one only hopes they don't start to respond.

All the talk is about the rain as on lap thirty four and only ten laps to go and whilst only light in the pit lane to start with it is forecast to get heavier as the minutes pass. It is easy to see the rain on the camera lenses and I am sure this is all Lewis needs out front. The weather then got wetter as Lewis went off in Stabilo but got it back on the track.

Lewis then came in to change onto inters followed by Robert who over shot his pit and let Mark through after his pit stop into second. They are now all having to protect the inters as they still have some eight laps to go.

Sebastian and Fernando are under investigation as Fernando came out of his pit into the side of Sebastian and banging wheels. Sebastian yet again involved in an incident albeit this one may not be his fault.

Sebastian then came in again after burning his tyres in the dryer tyres and then Fernando shot his Ferrari into the wall at Malmedy and he was out. This then brought out the safety car and as all the cars assembled behind the safety car anything could happen now. Three of the cars are on full wets with the remainder on inters and the only time one should really need full wets is where there is deep running water.

Lewis is complaining the safety car is too slow and one goes back to a comment Martin made on the grid about the tread depth of the tyres on the safety car. With Fernando's car now lifted off the track things seem to be brightening up so hopefully all the drivers will be safe to the end of the race in only four laps.

In came the safety car and Lewis walked away at the front and to see him coming along Kemal into Les Coombes at some two hundred miles an hour with the other cars creating plumes of smoke behind was fantastic.

So after a very mixed weather weekend Lewis took the flag after a start to finish where he was never headed. A wonderful drive by Lewis and Mark was fortunate to finish in second after Robert's cock up when coming into the pits for his tyre change.

The points scorers are therefore Lewis in first taking the championship lead from Mark followed by Mark, Robert, Felipe, Adrian, Nico, Michael, Kamui, Vitaly and Jamie.

Three of the championship hopefulls fell away during the race including the unfortunate Jenson, the unforgivable Sebastien and sadly Fernando who eventually shot it into the scenery near the end to bring out the safety car.

In the constructors championship Red Bull still retain their lead albeit only one point ahead of Mclaren on 330 and 329 respectfully.

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.