European Grand Prix Preview

Sebastian Vettel stormed to his 33rd career pole position to equal the tally of the greats Alain Prost and Jim Clark. Vettel was simply too good for the rest of the field who were largely separated by less than a second. Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado will line up 2nd and 3rd but Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber all failed to impress.

Qualifying 1

The news came through before qualifying that Timo Glock would take no part in the session because of illness. He will also take no part in this afternoon’s race. The other 23 cars took to the track and it immediately became clear that Mark Webber was off the pace. His running in FP3 had been curtailed by issues with the car and, while he may have been able to get away with that last season, he was punished by the tight nature of racing in the 2012 season. Webber switched to the soft tyres but to no avail and was marooned down in 19th place. Just in front of him will line up Jean-Eric Vergne who thought he’d done enough to make it into Q2 before Heikki Kovalainen delighted the Caterham team with a brilliant lap at the death of the session to take P17.

Eliminated:

• 18th Jean-Eric Vergne (Scuderia Toro Rosso) 1:40.203
• 19th Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) 1:40.395
• 20th Vitaly Petrov (Caterham F1) 1:40.457
• 21st Pedro de la Rosa (HRT F1) 1:42.171
• 22nd Narain Karthiekeyan (HRT F1) 1:42.527

Qualifying 2

With the Force India’s looking quick all weekend it became apparent that one of the more established teams would be eliminated in Q2. Unfortunately for Ferrari, it was them who would be eliminated. The revised F2012 still wasn’t up to the pace around a stop-start circuit like the one in Valencia and Fernando Alonso will start 11th with Massa in 13th. Michael Schumacher couldn’t produce a lap like in Monaco and will start 12th. Sergio Perez will have to produce another stunningly controlled performance to replicate his podium finish in Canada as he will start 15th. Heikki Kovalainen impressed again as he outqualified the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo. The fastest time in Q2 down to 13th place was separated by just two tenths of a second.

Eliminated:

• 11th Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari) 1:38.707
• 12th Michael Schumacher (Mercedes AMG Petronas) 1:38.770
• 13th Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari) 1:38.780
• 14th Bruno Senna (Williams F1) 1:39.207
• 15th Sergio Perez (Sauber F1) 1:39.358
• 16th Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham F1) 1:40.295
• 17th Daniel Ricciardo (Scuderia Toro Rosso) 1:40.358

Qualifying 3

With the field packed so tightly, anyone of the top 10 could have taken pole. For a while it seemed as though the Force India’s might just do it with Paul di Resta absolutely flying before locking up into the final corner and ruining the lap. Hulkenberg then slotted himself into P1 before Pastor Maldonado came along and took the honours off him. It was Hamilton’s turn next to take over at the top with a great lap as Button again couldn’t get near his team-mate. Sebastian Vettel has looked mighty all weekend and was the favourite for pole. In his one run, he destroyed the competition; going some three tenths faster than anyone else when the rest of the top 10 were by just half a second themselves.

Top 10:

1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) 1:38.086
2. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) 1:38.410
3. Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1) 1:38.475
4. Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1) 1:38.505
5. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus F1) 1:38.513
6. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG Petronas) 1:38.623
7. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber F1) 1:38.741
8. Nico Hulkenberg (Sahara Force India) 1:38.752
9. Jenson Button (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) 1:38.801
10. Paul di Resta (Sahara Force India) 1:38.992

With this track being perhaps the most boring of the season (although Korea might argue with that) overtaking will be at a premium this afternoon. Vettel seems to have the measure of the field and will be difficult to beat while Grosjean looks the most likely to be another different winner this season. Hopefully the Pirelli tyres will inject some excitement into an event which, in my opinion, shouldn’t be on the calendar. My prediction is thus:

1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes)
3. Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1)

Seventh Heaven for Hamilton

Hamilton beams as he sprays his mechanics with champagne.

Lewis Hamilton became the seventh different winner of what is turning out to be a vintage Formula 1 World Championship after his victory in the Canadian Grand Prix. He overhauled the one-stoppers Alonso and Vettel in the closing laps as his McLaren team benefited from a perfectly judged two-stop strategy. Alonso and Vettel fell down the order as Sergio Perez and Romain Grosjean, both on two stops, grabbed the final podium places.

In contrast to last year’s washout, the race was played out in glorious Montreal sunshine and the warm weather meant that the chances of a one-stop strategy working were always slim. From the start, Vettel got away well and led out of turn one as the field meandered their way behind him. Felipe Massa was making good progress before a spin on lap 5 cost him a few places. Massa was also the first to stop on lap 13 with Schumacher and di Resta joining him on the softer tyres.

At the head of the field, Vettel and Hamilton were closely matched but Vettel was the first to blink. Hamilton stayed out longer and, even with a typical McLaren error during his pit-stop, was able to rejoin ahead of the reigning World Champion. Fernando Alonso stayed out longest as Ferrari seemed to combat their high tyre degradation and rejoined ahead of Hamilton after his stop. Hamilton though was a man on a mission and passed Alonso down the long Droit du Casino straight to take the lead of the Grand Prix. Hamilton led from Alonso and Vettel with the top three drivers in the world building up a substantial lead over the rest of the field.

Behind them, Raikkonen and Perez were clearly on a one-stop strategy but sitting comfortably in 4th and 5th. They eventually pitted on lap 41 and continued their battle in 8th and 9th place. Michael Schumacher continued to suffer horrendous bad luck this season (some sections of the F1 fanbase claim that is karma for earlier discrepancies) as his DRS was stuck open and despite the panicked actions of the Mercedes mechanics, the flap just simply would not close and so Schumacher was again forced into retirement. Another former World Champion suffering in Montreal was Jenson Button. Having won so brilliantly last season, Button was languishing down the field for most of the race, struggling with tyre wear even with his silky smooth driving style. He would finish a disappointing 16th having suffered the ignominy of being lapped by his team-mate and demanded answers as to why he was so off the pace.

The closing of stages of the Grand Prix saw the race come alive. Hamilton stopped again of lap 50 while Alonso and Vettel tried to see the race out on their worn rubber. Hamilton, with the advantage of fresh tyres under him, pumped in a series of blistering laps to cut the deficit to the top two and he muscled past Vettel on lap 62 before Vettel pitted two laps later. Hamilton closed on Alonso and passed the Spaniard for the second time as Alonso’s tyres fell of the proverbial cliff.

Romain Grosjean has impressed this season and took a deserved second place.

Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez had benefited from the chaos ahead and passed Alonso before Vettel too overtook him on the last lap. Hamilton took the chequered flag while Grosjean and Perez couldn’t believe their luck.

Provisional Classification:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) 1hr32:29.586
2. Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1) + 2.513
3. Sergio Perez (Sauber F1) + 5.260
4. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) + 7.295
5. Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari) + 13.411
6. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG Petronas) + 13.842
7. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing)  + 15.085
8. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus F1) + 15.567
9. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber F1) + 24.432
10. Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari) + 25.272
11. Paul di Resta (Sahara Force India) + 37.693
12. Nico Hulkenberg (Sahara Force India) + 46.236
13. Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1) + 47.052
14. Daniel Ricciardo (Scuderia Toro Rosso) + 1:04.475
15. Jean-Eric Vergne (Scuderia Toro Rosso) + 1 Lap
16. Jenson Button (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) + 1 Lap
17. Bruno Senna (Williams F1) + 1 Lap
18. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham F1) + 1 Lap
19. Vitaly Petrov (Caterham F1) + 1 Lap
20. Charles Pic (Marussia F1) + 3 Laps

Not Classified:

• Timo Glock (Marussia F1) – Brakes, Lap 57
• Michael Schumacher (Mercedes AMG Petronas) – DRS, Lap 44
• Pedro de la Rosa (HRT F1) – Brakes, Lap 25
• Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F1) – Brakes, Lap 23

Drivers’ Championship Standings:

1. Lewis Hamilton – 88 Points
2. Fernando Alonso – 86 Points
3. Sebastian Vettel – 85 Points
4. Mark Webber – 79 Points
5. Nico Rosberg – 67 Points
6. Kimi Raikkonen – 55 Points
7. Romain Grosjean – 53 Points
8. Jenson Button – 45 Points
9. Sergio Perez – 37 Points
10. Pastor Maldonado – 29 Points
11. Kamui Kobayashi – 21 Points
12. Paul di Resta – 21 Points
13. Bruno Senna – 15 Points
14. Felipe Massa – 11 Points
15. Nico Hulkenberg – 7 Points
16. Jean-Eric Vergne – 4 Points
17. Daniel Ricciardo – 2 Points
18. Michael Schumacher – 2 Points

Constructors’ Championship Standings:

1. Red Bull Racing – 164 Points
2. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes – 133 Points
3. Lotus F1 – 108 Points
4. Scuderia Ferrari – 97 Points
5. Mercedes AMG Petronas – 69 Points
6. Sauber F1 – 58 Points
7. Williams F1 – 44 Points
8. Sahara Force India – 28 Points
9. Scuderia Toro Rosso – 6 Points

 

Canadian Grand Prix Preview

Sebastian Vettel produced an ominously clinical qualifying performance to take pole position for today’s Canadian Grand Prix. He edged out Lewis Hamilton by three tenths of a second with Fernando Alonso continuing Ferrari’s improvement this season by taking third on the grid. Kimi Raikkonen missed out on the Q3 shootout, lining up 12th this afternoon while Jenson Button scraped through to the final session but failed to impress down in 10th.

Qualifying 1

Jean-Eric Vergne crashed out of FP3 earlier on Saturday afternoon and it proved to be costly as he again failed to make it out of Q1 this season. He will line up behind the Caterhams after they showed some improvements this weekend. HRT’s Pedro de la Rosa put in a superb lap to place him ahead of the Marussia’s, much to the delight of the Spanish team. At the front of the field, Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets to show that the RB8 wasn’t fazed by the modifications that the FIA forced Red Bull to make to it.

Eliminated:

• 18th Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham F1) 1:16.263
• 19th Vitaly Petrov (Caterham F1) 1:16.482
• 20th Jean-Eric Vergne (Scuderia Toro Rosso) 1:16.602
• 21st Pedro de la Rosa (HRT F1) 1:17.492
• 22nd Timo Glock (Marussia F1) 1:17.901
• 23rd Charles Pic (Marussia F1) 1:18.255
• 24th Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F1) 1:18.330

Qualifying 2

Another weekend, another frantic Q2 session. The field is so tightly bunched this year that just the slightest mistake in this session can ruin your weekend. The Lotus’ are not suited to this track and Raikkonen struggled all session to get close to the top 10. The Saubers were also off the pace with Kobayashi ending up 11th ahead of Perez in 15th. Jenson Button was on the bubble and facing elimination in the dying stages of the session with Pastor Maldonado on a flying lap but fortunately for Button, Maldonado got out of shape coming out of the final corner and spun allowing the McLaren to scrape into the final shootout.

Eliminated:

• 11th Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber F1) 1:14.688
• 12th Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus F1) 1:14.734
• 13th Nico Hulkenberg (Sahara Force India) 1:14.748
• 14th Daniel Ricciardo (Scuderia Toro Rosso) 1:15.078
• 15th Sergio Perez (Sauber F1) 1:15.156
• 16th Bruno Senna (Williams F1) 1:15.170
• 17th Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1) 1:15.231

Qualifying 3

Vettel always looked in control of this session and he produced a brilliant lap to be the only driver to duck under the 1:14 mark. Hamilton always goes well at Montreal, the site of his first win in F1, and he will fancy his chances from second on the grid. Button couldn’t find any pace and will line up 10th with Paul di Resta  impressing on his way to 8th on the grid.

Top 10:

1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) 1:13.784
2. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) 1:14.087
3. Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari) 1:14.151
4. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) 1:14.346
5. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG Petronas) 1:14.411
6. Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari) 1:14.465
7. Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1) 1:14.645
8. Paul di Resta (Sahara Force India) 1:14.705
9. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes AMG Petronas) 1:14.812
10. Jenson Button (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) 1:15.182

Vettel secures his second pole of the season and I get the feeling that he will ‘do a Bahrain’ and just pull away and control the race. The battle behind could be fascinating though with some really tight racing in prospect. Here’s my prediction:

1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2. Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari)
3. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing)

Have a good one folks!

Webber Makes It Six Different Winners From Six Races In 2012

Mark Webber won an extraordinary Monaco Grand Prix to create a little bit of F1 history. Never before has there been six different winners in the first six races of a season and Webber followed Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel and Pastor Maldonado in seeing the chequered flag in 2012. The streets of Monte Carlo were host to a grandstand finish where the top six were separated by just six seconds.

Webber held off Rosberg’s challenge down into turn 1 as the lights went out but there was drama behind as Grosjean tangled with Michael Schumacher leaving him with a damaged rear suspension and he became the first retirement of the race. Grosjean clipped the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi forcing the Japanese driver into retirement five laps later due to damage from the collision. The first lap claimed two more casualties as Pastor Maldonado ran into the back of Pedro de la Rosa leaving them both with irreparable wing damage. The Safety Car was deployed following Maldonado stacking his car into the barriers on his way back to the pits.

Monaco is renowned as a circuit that is near impossible to overtake on and so it proved after the restart; the drivers were frustratingly close to each other but none could get past. Sergio Perez was the only driver making progress as he muscled his way past the slower teams after starting from the back of the grid. The Pirelli tyres were holding up well around Monaco and it was not until lap 27 that the leaders pitted for fresh rubber. One notable exception was Sebastian Vettel who stayed out and began pumping in a string of fastest laps in a bid to gain places on his rivals once the pitstop window had ended.

He increased his lead over team-mate Webber to nearly twenty seconds before finally pitting on lap 45, rejoining just ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Further back, Sergio Perez was handed a drive-through penalty for impeding Raikkonen on his way into the pits. Michael Schumacher’s run of bad luck in 2012 continued as he experienced a lack of fuel pressure before Pic and Ricciardo joined him on the sidelines a few laps later.

The threat of rain had lingered over the hills of Monte Carlo for the majority of the race and the decisions over tyre choice had been difficult to make. Toro Rosso called in Jean-Eric Vergne from a secure points scoring position to switch to the intermediate tyres. The gamble would have paid off handsomely if the rain had fallen but unfortunately for the Frenchman it didn’t and he quickly fell down the order.

At the front, Webber began to slow as the light faded. Rosberg, Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton and Massa all closed onto the back of the Red Bull and the cars were separated by little over five seconds for the remainder of the race. Webber was able to keep his cool and become the only Australian to win the Monaco Grand Prix twice.

Provisional Classification:

1. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) 1hr46:06.557
2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG Petronas) + 0.643
3. Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari) + 0.947
4. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) + 1.343
5. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) + 4.101
6. Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari) + 6.195
7. Paul di Resta (Sahara Force India) +41.537
8. Nico Hulkenberg (Sahara Force India) + 42.562
9. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus F1) + 44.036
10. Bruno Senna (Williams F1) + 44.516
11. Sergio Perez (Sauber F1) + 1 Lap
12. Jean-Eric Vergne (Scuderia Toro Rosso) + 1 Lap
13. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham F1) + 1 Lap
14. Timo Glock (Marussia F1) + 1 Lap
15. Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F1) + 2 Laps

Not Classified:

• Jenson Button (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) – Collision, Lap 71
• Daniel Ricciardo (Scuderia Toro Rosso) – Steering, Lap 66
• Charles Pic (Marussia F1) – Electrical, Lap 65
• Michael Schumacher (Mercedes AMG Petronas) – Fuel pressure, Lap  64
• Vitaly Petrov (Caterham F1) – Electrical, Lap 16
• Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber F1) – Damage, Lap 5
• Pedro de la Rosa (HRT F1) – Damage, Lap 1
• Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1) – Collision, Lap 1
• Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1) – Collision, Lap 1

Drivers’ Championship Standings:

1. Fernando Alonso – 76 Points
2. Sebastian Vettel – 73 Points
3. Mark Webber – 73 Points
4. Lewis Hamilton – 63 Points
5. Nico Rosberg – 59 Points
6. Kimi Raikkonen – 51 Points
7. Jenson Button – 45 Points
8. Romain Grosjean – 35 Points
9. Pastor Maldonado – 29 Points
10. Sergio Perez – 22 Points
11. Paul di Resta – 21 Points
12. Kamui Kobayashi – 19 Points
13. Bruno Senna – 15 Points
14. Felipe Massa – 10 Points
15. Nico Hulkenberg – 7 Points
16. Jean-Eric Vergne – 4 Points
17. Daniel Ricciardo – 2 Points
18. Michael Schumacher – 2 Points

Constructors’ Championship Standings:

1. Red Bull Racing – 146 Points
2. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes – 108 Points
3. Scuderia Ferrari – 86 Points
4. Lotus F1 – 86 Points
5. Mercedes AMG Petronas – 61 Points
6. Williams F1 – 44 Points
7. Sauber F1 – 41 Points
8. Sahara Force India – 28 Points
9. Scuderia Toro Rosso – 6 Points

 

Monaco Grand Prix Preview

Michael Schumacher can’t hide his delight at being the fastest man in qualifying despite lining up 6th due to a penalty.

Michael Schumacher rolled back the years in Monaco as he recorded the fastest time in Saturday’s qualifying session. Unfortunately for the seven time World Champion, he will only line up sixth on the grid after the five place penalty he received for his collision with Bruno Senna in Spain. Mark Webber was second fastest and will line up on pole for today’s race. Schumacher was delighted to have shown he’s still got the pace at a time when he was under pressure from Mercedes and will be quietly confident about his chances in today’s race.

Qualifying 1

Before qualifying began, Pastor Maldonado received a ten place grid penalty for clashing with Sergio Perez in FP3 in addition to a five place penalty for a gearbox change. For Perez, the drama did not stop there as he suffered a power steering failure in his first run in Q1 which sent him crashing into the Swimming Pool chicane and ending his session before it begun. As the session wore on, several big names had to change to the supersoft tyres in order to avoid elimination. Sebastian Vettel lay in 16th position before he was forced into using a set of the supersofts along with Kimi Raikkonen. Nico Hulkenberg set the fastest time of the session on the supersoft tyres while Heikki Kovalainen comfortably outqualified team-mate Vitaly Petrov. Sergio Perez will be left trying to make the best of a bad situation in today’s race.

Eliminated:

• 18th Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham F1) 1:16.538
• 19th Vitaly Petrov (Caterham F1) 1:17.404
• 20th Timo Glock (Marussia F1) 1:17.947
• 21st Pedro de la Rosa (HRT F1) 1:18.096
• 22nd Charles Pic (Marussia F1) 1:18.476
• 23rd Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F1) 1:19.310
• 24th Sergio Perez (Sauber F1) – No time, has a five place penalty for gearbox change

Qualifying 2

Jean-Eric Vergne got Q2 underway with a bang when he scraped the wall inside the tunnel, damaging his front wing and suspension and meaning that he would not take any further part in qualifying. He wasn’t the only one in trouble as Sebastian Vettel complained of a poorly handling car. Vettel was eventually able to claw his way into Q3 but at the expense of another set of tyres. Jenson Button and the Lotus’ were also in trouble but while Raikkonen and Grosjean improved, Button did not and was left down in 13th with di Resta, Senna and Kobayashi among the other drivers eliminated. Less than a second separated the top 16 drivers in Q2.

Eliminated:

• 11th Nico Hulkenberg (Sahara Force India) 1:15.421
• 12th Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber F1) 1:15.508
• 13th Jenson Button (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) 1:15.536
• 14th Bruno Senna (Williams F1) 1:15.709
• 15th Paul di Resta (Sahara Force India) 1:15.718
• 16th Daniel Ricciardo (Scuderia Toro Rosso) 1:15.878
• 17th Jean-Eric Vergne (Scuderia Toro Rosso) 1:16.885

Qualifying 3

After the end of the first runs in qualifying, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was on provisional pole ahead of Grosjean and Webber while the two Ferrari’s decided to only run once in Q3, at the end of the session. A flurry of lap times followed with Alonso going up to P5 before Webber overhauled Rosberg’s time. But few could have predicted what happened next as Schumacher went faster still to take P1 and despite his penalty he will be delighted with his performance. Vettel was the only driver not to take part in Q3 and will have a tough task to win from 10th. The race promises to be absolutley captivating.

Top 10:

1. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes AMG Petronas) 1:14.301 – will start 6th after 5 place grid penalty
2. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) 1:14.381
3. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG Petronas) 1:14.448
4. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) 1:14.583
5. Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1) 1:14.639
6. Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari) 1:14.948
7. Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari) 1:15.049
8. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus F1) 1:15.199
9. Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1) 1:15.245 – will start 23rd after 10 place grid penalty plus 5 place penalty for gearbox change
10. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) – No time

Well, who would’ve thought Schumacher would’ve taken pole? Ironic given the fact he’s had 68 of them but he’s been under such pressure this week with Mercedes almost publicly declaring that they’d hire Paul di Resta if Schumacher didn’t raise his game. Raise his game he did and he must be feeling confident today and when he’s confident he usually pulls something special out the bag. Webber will be delighted to be starting on pole but Rosberg should pose a strong challenge to him. My prediction is thus:

1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG Petronas)
2. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing)
3. Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1)

Enjoy the glitz and glamour (I hate how they’ve become what the Monaco Grand Prix is about rather than the racing) and I’ll see you on the other side!

Maldonado Defies the Odds to Win First Grand Prix

Pastor Maldonado cannot hide his joy at winning his first ever Grand Prix

Williams’ Pastor Maldonado converted pole position into a race win to record his first victory in the elite level of motorsport. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso provided stiff competition for the majority of the race while Kimi Raikkonen scored another podium as he edges closer to a comeback win. A dramatic Spanish Grand Prix was capped with a fire in the Williams garage after the race which gutted a great deal of equipment and has left the team struggling to gather themselves at Monaco next weekend.

When the lights went out, Alonso delighted the home crowd by powering past Maldonado into turn one, in a repeat of his brilliant start 12 months ago. Behind him, Raikkonen gained a few places while Perez clashed with Grosjean, giving the Mexican a puncture while Mark Webber was left down the order after a bad getaway.

Perez pitted and switched to the hard compound tyres which would emerge as the faster tyre in the course of the race. Alonso and Maldonado led Raikkonen but the Ferrari driver couldn’t shake off the Venezuelan. Further back, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa were making swift progress from their lowly grid positions with Hamilton running as high as fourth at one point. Lap 13 saw the first major talking point of the race as Michael Schumacher careered into the back of the Williams of Bruno Senna forcing both cars into retirement and earning Schumacher a 5 place grid penalty for Monaco.

Alonso was happier in a much-improved Ferrari but just couldn’t catch Maldonado.

McLaren’s pitstop woes continued as Hamilton’s first stop was marred by contact with a tyre as he exited his box. McLaren weren’t the only team with problems as Red Bull’s Mark Webber suffered from a loose nose which cost him several places. At the front, Alonso was still holding Maldonado at bay after the first round of stops but the Venezuelan looked to be the equal of Alonso. Maldonado had closed the gap down to 1.5 seconds by lap 21 and Williams brought him in to try and undercut the Spaniard. He set a blistering out lap and with Alonso held up in traffic was able to end up in the lead by lap 25.

Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa were handed drive-through penalties for ignoring yellow flags following the Schumacher/Senna accident which compromised their strategies. The Lotus drivers were back on the pace after switching to the hard tyres and it seemed as though Raikkonen might have had an outside chance of victory. Williams had a slight issue with a rear tyre during Maldonado’s final stop and Alonso was able to close the gap to three seconds. Raikkonen’s third stop saw him switch to a fresher set of tyres than Maldonado and Alonso and the Finn was closing in on them at a second a lap.

The tyre situation created a grandstand finish as Maldonado preserved his tyres and Alonso and Raikkonen went all out in the hope of overhauling him. Alonso closed onto the gearbox of Maldonado but couldn’t pass him and eventually had to concede defeat as his tyres hit the metaphorical performance ‘cliff’. Raikkonen was in hot pursuit but could only close to within three seconds as Maldonado opened the throttle and powered to his first career win and the first ever win for a Venezuelan in Formula 1 history.

An eventful weekend for the Williams team was capped in dramatic fashion with a fire in their garage. Investigations are still continuing as to the cause of the fire but it gutted a large section of the garage and a great deal of IT equipment and data. Fortunately the majority of personnel got to safety including Team Principal Sir Frank Williams and several of the other teams helped fight the fire. Sadly, at least nine mechanics were injured, one seriously and the Williams outfit face a battle to be ready in time for Monaco. One thing is certain, Williams will never forget this Grand Prix weekend.

The smoke from the fire covered the paddock and track

Provisional Classification:

1. Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1) 1hr39:09.145
2. Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari) + 3.195
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus F1) + 3.884
4. Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1) + 14.799
5. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber F1) + 1:04.641
6. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) + 1:07.576
7. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG Petronas) 1:17.919
8. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) + 1:18.140
9. Jenson Button (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) + 1:25.246
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Sahara Force India) + 1 Lap
11. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) + 1 Lap
12. Jean-Eric Vergne (Scuderia Toro Rosso) + 1 Lap
13. Daniel Ricciardo (Scuderia Toro Rosso) + 1 Lap
14. Paul di Resta (Sahara Force India) + 1 Lap
15. Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari) + 1 Lap
16. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham F1) + 1 Lap
17. Vitaly Petrov (Caterham F1) + 1 Lap
18. Timo Glock (Marussia F1) + 2 Laps
19. Pedro de la Rosa (HRT F1) + 3 Laps

Not Classified:

• Sergio Perez, Transmission – Lap 37
• Charles Pic, Driveshaft – Lap 35
• Narain Karthikeyan, Loose Wheel – Lap 22
• Bruno Senna, Collision – Lap 13
• Michael Schumacher, Collision – Lap 13

Drivers’ Championship Standings:

1. Sebastian Vettel – 61 Points
2. Fernando Alonso – 61 Points
3. Lewis Hamilton – 53 Points
4. Kimi Raikkonen – 49 Points
5. Mark Webber – 48 Points
6. Jenson Button – 45 Points
7. Nico Rosberg – 41 Points
8. Romain Grosjean – 35 Points
9. Pastor Maldonado – 29 Points
10. Sergio Perez – 22 Points
11. Kamui Kobayashi – 19 Points
12. Paul di Resta – 15 Points
13. Bruno Senna – 14 Points
14. Jean-Eric Vergne – 4 Points
15. Nico Hulkenberg – 3 Points
16. Daniel Ricciardo – 2 Points
17. Felipe Massa – 2 Points
18. Michael Schumacher – 2 Points

Constructors’ Championship Standings:

1. Red Bull Racing – 109 Points
2. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes – 98 Points
3. Lotus F1 – 84 Points
4. Scuderia Ferrari – 63 Points
5. Mercedes AMG Petronas – 43 Points
6. Williams F1 – 43 Points
7. Sauber F1 – 41 Points
8. Sahara Force India – 18 Points
9. Scuderia Toro Rosso – 6 Points

Spanish Grand Prix Preview

Pastor Maldonado took pole but not in the fashion you might expect.

Pastor Maldonado will line-up for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix in pole position but the main talking point from Saturday’s qualifying session has been the steward’s decision to disqualify Lewis Hamilton from the timesheets, leaving him 24th on the grid despite setting the fastest lap time of the afternoon. Fernando Alonso seemed to enjoy the updates to the F2012 as he secured a second place grid slot. Here’s how qualifying unfolded session by session:

Qualifying 1

FP3 taught us that the field would be extremely close and the slightest mistake would cost a driver several grid places. The teams quickly abandoned running on the harder tyres to seek faster laptimes. Maldonado underlined the pace of the Williams at Catalunya by going quickest before first Romain Grosjean and then Lewis Hamilton went quickest. Hamilton’s lap was particularly stunning, going some six tenths faster than Grosjean. At the rear end of the field the usual suspects were joined by Bruno Senna in the closing few minutes of the session but while chasing down a faster time he caught the kerb going into turn 12 and lost the backend. Beached in the gravel, Senna was left to rue what might have been and made his way back to the motorhome.

Eliminated:

• 18th Bruno Senna (Williams F1) 1:24.981
• 19th Vitaly Petrov (Caterham F1) 1:25.277
• 20th Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham F1) 1:25.507
• 21st Charles Pic (Marussia F1) 1:26.582
• 22nd Timo Glock (Marussia F1) 1:27.032
• 23rd Pedro de la Rosa (HRT F1) 1:27.555
• 24th Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F1) 1:31.122

Qualifying 2

A big-name elimination was always looking likely in Q2 and instead of just one surprising knock-out, we were given three. Pastor Maldonado showed Lewis Hamilton that he’d be right up there with him in Q3 by posting a 1:22.105 to go fastest in the session. With two minutes to go, Mark Webber looked comfortably inside the top 10 alongside Jenson Button while Felipe Massa again struggled for pace in the sister Ferrari. He briefly made an appearance in the top 10 before being usurped by his competitors to end up 17th in the session. Webber and Button decided not to go out on track and improve their time and it proved to be a costly mistake. A flurry of times from the midfield contenders knocked Button and Webber out of the top 10 with 6th place to 12th separated by one tenth of a second. Kamui Kobayashi, who scraped into the top 10 shootout, parked his car on the side of the track meaning that he would take no further part in the afternoon’s events.

Eliminated:

• 11th Jenson Button (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) 1:22.944
• 12th Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) 1:22.977
• 13th Paul di Resta (Sahara Force India) 1:23.125
• 14th Nico Hulkenberg (Sahara Force India) 1:23.177
• 15th Jean-Eric Vergne (Scuderia Toro Rosso) 1:23.265
• 16th Daniel Ricciardo (Scuderia Toro Rosso) 1:23.442
• 17th Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari) 1:23.444

Qualifying 3

It always seemed that this was going to be a straight fight between Hamilton and Maldonado here and that is how it turned out. Vettel and Schumacher both elected not to set a timed lap in this session while Sergio Perez underlined the pace of the Sauber’s by qualifying 6th. The Lotus’ were as solid as ever taking P4 and P5 and Fernando Alonso again highlighted why, in my opinion, he is the best driver on the grid by taking P3. It looked like it might have been pole when he led the standings with a minute to go but up popped Maldonado to deprive the Spanish fans of a celebration. The Venezuelan put in a blinder and must surely have impressed Frank Williams on his 7oth birthday. The star of the show was Hamilton who produced a simply stunning lap to beat Maldonado by half a second – a Senna-esque performance from the Brit. But then disaster, on his way back to the pits he stopped the car after almost running out of fuel. With no way to get back to the pits it seemed as though Hamilton would face a penalty and the stewards didn’t disappoint. Under Article 6.6.2 of the regulations, “Except in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the stewards of the meeting), if a sample of fuel is required after a practice session the car concerned must have first been driven back to the pits under its own power.” McLaren chief Martin Whitmarsh tried in vain to convince the stewards that the margin of Hamilton’s pole was so great that any punishment would not befit the crime but the stewards  excluded Hamilton from qualifying, relegating him to the back of the grid and leaving him needing to produce another Senna-esque performance in order to claw anything out of this weekend. Maldonado on the other hand will be absolutely delighted to line up on pole position for the first time in his F1 career.

Top 10:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) 1:21.707 – Excluded from qualifying and will start 24th
2. Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1) 1:22.285
3. Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari) 1:22.302
4. Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1) 1:22.424
5. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus F1) 1:22.487
6. Sergio Perez (Sauber F1) 1:22.533
7. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG Petronas) 1:23.005
8. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) – No time
9. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes AMG Petronas) – No time
10. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber F1) – No time

With Hamilton down in 24th but with the obvious pace to win this by a mile and with Webber and Button both saving a set of tyres down in 11th and 12th there is the potential for a thrilling race in Spain today. The top 10 are very closely matched and Maldonado vs Alonso will be fascinating to watch. Raikkonen should challenge them if he gets a good start while Bruno Senna has a good car underneath him and will want to show Frank Williams that yesterday was just a blip.

My prediction this weekend is this:

1. Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari)
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus F1)
3. Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1)

All Lewis Hamilton’s hardwork was undone as a fuel issue cost him pole position and left him down in 24th on the grid.

Who would’ve predicted that podium a couple of weeks ago? The Ferrari has much better race pace than qualifying speed and Alonso is the best driver out there so I expect him to pass Maldonado at some point. Obviously if Vettel manages himself well enough then he could challenge but he’s not in the fastest car this weekend. All this counts for nothing though because Hamilton should be on pole and it is an absolute travesty that he isn’t. His pole lap was one of the best I’ve seen and a mistake by a mechanic in the pitlane should not mean that he gets dropped to 24th despite being five tenths quicker than everybody else. These are the same stewards who let perennial mobile chicanes HRT race when they are outside the 107% rule by taking into account their practice times so why not take into account Hamilton’s fuel from practice? Common sense should have prevailed and after the debacle that Rosberg caused in Bahrain, the stewards are again coming across as out of touch.

Enjoy the race – I will be watching it in a pub with one eye on the football but there’ll be the usual post-race review here afterwards!

 

Vettel Back On Top in 2012

Sebastian Vettel claims his first race win of 2012 in Bahrain.

Sebastian Vettel romped home to take the chequered flag in Bahrain and lead the Drivers Championship after four rounds. He held off a spirited charge from Kimi Raikkonen with Raikkonen’s Lotus team-mate Romain Grosjean rounding out the podium places. It was a bad day for McLaren though with two bad pitstops ruining Lewis Hamilton’s afternoon and Jenson Button was forced to retire with a cracked exhaust just two laps from the end.

As the lights went out, Vettel powered away from Hamilton and into a 2 second lead at the end of the first lap. Behind him, Nico Rosberg was crowded out into turn one as Grosjean, Raikkonen and the two Ferraris all made good starts. Australian Daniel Ricciardo ruined all his good work in qualifying with a poor start and contact on the first lap that left him with a damaged front wing while Heikki Kovalainen had to pit for a puncture. The race pace of the Lotus cars was immediately apparent as Grosjean relieved Webber of fourth and Raikkonen passed Massa. Grosjean was at it again just two laps later as he passed Hamilton using DRS. Raikkonen wasn’t to be outdone by his team-mate though as he powered past Jenson Button for P6 before catching and passing Alonso just a lap later.

McLaren had another pitstop disaster as Hamilton’s left rear caused the team problems all afternoon. At his first stop, it cost him two places to Alonso and Webber leaving Hamilton to rejoin right behind Rosberg. Rosberg faced a steward’s investigation after moving over to the very far edge of the track to try and crowd Hamilton out. Lewis was a man on a mission though and kept his foot down to take the position.

Raikkonen got past Webber with a little help from DRS and began setting the pace in third. Grosjean just wasn’t making the difference up to Vettel and had to be more concerned with the fast closing Raikkonen. Lotus refused to enact team orders despite Raikkonen clearly being the man who could deprive Vettel of a first win in 2012.

On lap 24 though, Raikkonen finally made his move and began sprinting away from the sister Lotus while Hamilton suffered his second left rear tyre issue during a pitstop. Rosberg earned himself a further investigation by the stewards after giving Alonso a carbon copy of the move he pulled on Hamilton; luckily for the Mercedes driver he was able to keep Fernando at bay.

Up at the front, Raikkonen pumped in fastest lap after fastest lap to close right up to Vettel but couldn’t make his best chance at an overtaking manoeuvre stick. Unfortunately for Raikkonen he would not get any closer and Vettel gradually eased away to his first victory at the Sakhir International Circuit. Raikkonen led Grosjean home in second to give Lotus their first podium since their comeback to the sport.

McLaren’s miserable afternoon concluded with Jenson Button’s retirement on lap 56 with a cracked exhaust while all Lewis Hamilton could muster was an eighth place finish. In front of him, a fantastic performance and a good two stop strategy call saw Paul di Resta finish in sixth just ahead of Fernando Alonso who continues to impress in an difficult Ferrari car.

Provisional Classification:

1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) 1hr35:10.990
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus F1) +3.333
3. Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1) + 10.194
4. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) + 38.788
5. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG Petronas) + 55.460
6. Paul di Resta (Sahara Force India) + 57.543
7. Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari) + 57.803
8. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) + 58.984
9. Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari) + 1:04.999
10. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes AMG Petronas) + 1:11.490
11. Sergio Perez (Sauber F1) + 1:12.702
12. Nico Hulkenberg (Williams F1) +1:16.539
13. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber F1) +1:30.334
14. Jean-Eric Vergne (Scuderia Toro Rosso) + 1:33.723
15. Daniel Ricciardo (Scuderia Toro Rosso) + 1 Lap
16. Vitaly Petrov (Caterham F1) + 1 Lap
17. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham F1) + 1 Lap
18. Timo Glock (Marussia F1) + 2 Laps
19. Pedro de la Rosa (HRT F1) + 2 Laps
20. Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F1) + 2 Laps

Not Classified:

• Jenson Button (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) – Cracked exhaust, Lap 56
• Bruno Senna (Williams F1) – Damage, Lap 55
• Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1) – Puncture, Lap 26
• Charles Pic (Marussia F1) – Engine, Lap 2

Drivers’ Championship Standings:

1. Sebastian Vettel – 53 Points
2. Lewis Hamilton – 49 Points
3. Mark Webber – 48 Points
4. Jenson Button – 43 Points
5. Fernando Alonso – 43 Points
6. Nico Rosberg – 35 Points
7. Kimi Raikkonen – 34 Points
8. Romain Grosjean – 23 Points
9. Sergio Perez – 22 Points
10. Paul di Resta – 15 Points
11. Bruno Senna – 14 Points
12. Kamui Kobayashi – 9 Points
13. Jean-Eric Vergne – 4 Points
14. Pastor Maldonado – 4 Points
15. Daniel Ricciardo – 2 Points
16. Nico Hulkenberg – 2 Points
17. Felipe Massa – 2 Points
18. Michael Schumacher – 2 Points

Constructors’ Championship Standings:

1. Red Bull Racing – 101 Points
2. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes – 92 Points
3. Lotus F1 – 57 Points
4. Scuderia Ferrari – 45 Points
5. Mercedes AMG Petronas – 37 Points
6. Sauber F1 – 31 Points
7. Williams F1 – 18 Points
8. Sahara Force India – 17 Points

Analysis and Comment

Two poor pitstops cost Hamilton and McLaren dearly in Bahrain.

McLaren will feel that this is a race that they could and perhaps should have won. They’ll certainly have hoped to take more than 4 points from the weekend and it will be a massive worry for the Woking outfit that they have seemingly been overtaken in F1’s pecking order that they headed so comfortably after Australia. Going into this season they placed such an emphasis on being ahead of the competition from the get go seeing as being behind had cost them last year’s title. The problem with that strategy seems to be that it has drawn the focus away from their usually excellent in-season development programme and that has allowed teams like Red Bull and Lotus to catch up. In a season where the strengths of the individual cars appears to be more important than ever, McLaren will have to sort their act out if they want to stay at the front of the field. From these first four races, there is noway that Sebastian Vettel should have been allowed to lead the World Championship and McLaren will have to hope that their updates for Barcelona are one step better than their nearest rivals.

Sebastian Vettel has overcome some early teething troubles with his RB8 to head the World Championship after 4 rounds.

So will Vettel go on and dominate the season now like he did last year? My answer is no. The field is simply too close this season for any driver or team to dominate. Bahrain is a track that suits the RB8. It’s a very stop/start circuit and the Red Bulls will probably go well at similar tracks in the remainder of the season such as Abu Dhabi. This season is proving absolutely fascinating and it’s likely that we’ll see another team come out on top in Spain as the new range of updates come into effect.

I look forward to seeing you all in Spain where the field promises to be closer than ever!

Bahrain Grand Prix Preview

It's back - the Vettel finger makes its 2012 debut

After weeks of debate and controversy, the F1 circus finally roared into action on the Sakhir International Circuit. For Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel it was a return to his form of 2011 as he clinched his 31st pole position of his young career after a stunning lap. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was edged out by less than one tenth of a second with Mark Webber underlining the leap that Red Bull have made this weekend by lining up third. Interestingly, the pre-qualifying favourite Nico Rosberg saved a set of soft tyres for the race and will line up fifth despite a couple of niggly mistakes on his final lap. Here’s how qualifying went:

Qualifying 1

The front-running teams took the gamble to run the prime tyre in Q1, trying to save the softs for the more competitive second session. It initially looked as though the gamble would pay off as the track was dusty and the softs simply didn’t provide any grip. In the last few minutes though and with the track constantly evolving, the time was right to make the switch onto the quicker tyres and a whole host of drivers including Massa, Webber, Vettel, Perez and Grosjean all chose to do just that. Hamilton, Button, Alonso and Michael Schumacher elected to stay in the garage and try to scrape through on the medium compound tyres. For Schumacher, it was the wrong decision as Heikki Kovalainen put in an absolute stunner of a lap, finding 1.5 seconds to send the 7 times World Champion out in the very first session. Schumacher blamed a broken DRS system but either way, he’s going to have a lot of work to do just to make the points tomorrow afternoon.

Eliminated:

• 18th Michael Schumacher (Mercedes AMG Petronas) 1:34.865
• 19th Jean-Eric Vergne (Scuderia Toro Rosso) 1:35.014
• 20th Vitaly Petrov (Caterham F1) 1:35.823
• 21st Charles Pic (Marussia F1) 1:37.683
• 22nd Pedro de la Rosa (HRT F1) 1:37.883
• 23rd Timo Glock (Marussia F1) 1:37.905
• 24th Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F1) 1:38.314

Qualifying 2

Q2 has become almost as important as Q3 this season with the field separated by virtually nothing and it was no different this time. Less than a second covered top spot down to 15th in Q2 with only Caterham’s Kovalainen further back than that with Pastor Maldonado not setting a time meaning he will start 22nd after a penalty for changing his gearbox. Anyone could have been knocked out here and for a long period of time it seemed as though both Ferrari’s, both Lotus’ and even eventual pole-sitter Vettel could be eliminated. Both Ferrari’s and Romain Grosjean elected to put on a fresh set of options to make the top 10 while a couple of impressive laps from Paul di Resta and Daniel Ricciardo ensured that they outqualified their respective team-mates by a mile. Alonso improved, Massa didn’t while Raikkonen stayed in the garage to save a set of options for the race and he escaped a poor grid slot by ending up 11th. Kamui Kobayashi and Nico Hulkenberg couldn’t match their team-mates but Grosjean could while Senna complained of balance issues as he ended up 15th.

Eliminated:

• 11th Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus F1) 1:33.789
• 12th Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber F1) 1:33.806
• 13th Nico Hulkenberg (Sahara Force India) 1:33.807
• 14th Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari) 1:33.912
• 15th Bruno Senna (Williams F1) 1:34.017
• 16th Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham F1) 1:36.132
• 17th Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1) No time (5 place grid penalty, will start 22nd)

Qualifying 3

All eyes were on Nico Rosberg here. Having been quickest in FP2 and FP3, he was expected to claim a second consecutive pole position but it simply wasn’t to be. He had one timed run, trying to save his tyres as much as possible from Mercedes well documented tyre woes. He also ensured he kept a fresh set for the race tomorrow so he’ll be one to watch. Further back, Daniel Ricciardo sent a huge message to Red Bull by getting into 6th place on the grid with a great lap, 12 places ahead of his team-mate and less than half a second off pole. Alonso and di Resta sat out the session with the latter’s performance lifting the spirits of a team that has had a troubled past few days. For the majority of the session, it seemed as though Hamilton would be in line to secure his third pole of the season but then the Red Bulls decided to show their hand. Webber went fastest before Vettel produced another smooth and controlled lap that so typified his march to the 2011 title. Hamilton managed to split the Red Bulls before Rosberg’s mistakes left him behind Jenson Button. Grosjean and Perez rounded out the top eight and they will be hoping that they can come home with a good haul of points.

Top 10:

1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) 1:32.422
2. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) 1:32.520
3. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) 1:32.637
4. Jenson Button (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) 1:32.711
5. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG Petronas) 1:32.821
6. Daniel Ricciardo (Scuderia Toro Rosso) 1:32.912
7. Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1) 1:33.008
8. Sergio Perez (Sauber F1) 1:33.394
9. Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari) No time
10. Paul di Resta (Sahara Force India) No time

Daniel Ricciardo put in a great lap to end up sixth.

When I started writing these previews I thought I’d get sick of the monotony of putting P1. S.Vettel after every qualifying session but I’m actually quite pleased to see his name on top of the timesheets. It just adds an extra dimension to the long championship battle. Also, 8 tenths between P1 and P15 in Q2? This is the sort of close racing that F1 has been crying out for.

Another thing that F1 has been crying out for is for one of the ‘new’ teams to make the jump to the midfield and Kovalainen’s Q1 lap today is about as close as it’s got; it really was stunning. Special mention to Daniel Ricciardo for an absolutely stellar performance today. He outdrove the car and would love to see him get a few points for his troubles but crucially for him, Red Bull must surely look no further than the young Australian when Webber retires.

What worries me about the race tomorrow is not just the security issues but the fact that the race itself could be a bit of a snorefest. The Sakhir circuit isn’t exactly renowned for its overtaking opportunities and the Red Bull has demonstrated the best race pace on the grid so putting it on pole is giving it a bit of an unfair advantage. I expect Vettel to do what he did throughout last year and control the race from the front. If the different strategies up and down the grid provide some excitement then at least we’ll have some entertainment but I’m not holding my breath for a thriller.

For what it’s worth my predictions are:

1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2. Jenson Button (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes)
3. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes)

With empty grandstands and continued violence in Bahrain, the F1 community has to be questioning whether it was all worth it when the race is said and done.

Nico Rosberg Finally Breaks His Duck in F1

Nico Rosberg tastes success for the first time in F1

Three races into the 2012 Formula 1 season and we’ve seen three different winners. Nico Rosberg became the latest of them as he eased to his first victory in the sport, becoming the 103rd driver in history to win a Grand Prix. Behind him, the McLaren’s made up for a poor pitstop and a poor grid slot respectively to finish on the podium.

The cooler conditions in Shanghai aided Mercedes’ relatively high level of degradation and allowed Rosberg to take a two-stop strategy that the others couldn’t match. For a while it seemed as though it could even be a Silver Arrows 1-2 but a loose wheel nut at the first round of stops cost Michael Schumacher the chance to make the podium. The race then boiled down into a battle of strategy with the field split between two and three stoppers and it wasn’t until the closing laps that the final order started to take shape. Those on a three stop strategy had to take risks when it came to overtaking and that made for fascinating viewing. Button, on a three stop strategy, was Rosberg’s closest threat but we were robbed of the grandstand finish that we had hoped for when a issue getting the left rear tyre off in his third stop cost him valuable seconds.

Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen was second by this point but hanging onto his tyres by the skin of his teeth and once Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was passed he gave up the ghost and dropped down to 14th just two laps later. Vettel then battled to hold back the two McLarens who were on much fresher tyres but had to settle for fifth as both they and his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber got past the reigning World Champion. Behind them, Romain Grosjean impressed on his way to sixth having only completed a total of 7 laps this season. Bruno Senna once again underlined his potential and grabbed a good haul of points in seventh ahead of team-mate Pastor Maldonado. Fernando Alonso couldn’t produce the performance that led him to victory in Malaysia but ensured Ferrari’s damage was limited while Kamui Kobayashi ensured that Sauber have scored at every race so far this season by coming home in 10th. The attention was all on Rosberg though as he reveled in the sweet taste of victory after 111 race starts.

Provisional Classification:

1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG Petronas) 1hr36:26.929
2. Jenson Button (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) + 20.626
3. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) + 26.012
4. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) + 27.924
5. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) + 30.483
6. Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1) + 31.491
7. Bruno Senna (Williams F1) + 34.597
8. Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1) + 35.643
9. Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari) + 37.256
10. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber F1) + 38.720
11. Sergio Perez (Sauber F1) + 41.066
12. Paul di Resta (Sahara Force India) + 42.273
13. Felipe Massa (Scuerdia Ferrari) + 42.700
14. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus F1) + 50.500
15. Nico Hulkenberg (Sahara Force India) + 51.200
16. Jean-Eric Vergne (Scuderia Toro Rosso) + 51.700
17. Daniel Ricciardo (Scuderia Toro Rosso) + 1:03.100
18. Vitaly Petrov (Caterham F1) + 1 Lap
19. Timo Glock (Marussia F1) + 1 Lap
20. Charles Pic (Marussia F1) + 1 Lap
21. Pedro de la Rosa (HRT F1) + 1 Lap
22. Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F1) + 2 Laps
23. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham F1) + 3 Laps

Not Classified:

• Michael Schumacher (Mercedes AMG Petronas) – Loose wheel, Lap 16

Drivers Championship Standings:

1. Lewis Hamilton – 45 Points
2. Jenson Button – 43 Points
3. Fernando Alonso – 37 Points
4. Mark Webber – 36 Points
5. Sebastian Vettel – 28 Points
6.  Nico Rosberg – 25 Points
7. Sergio Perez – 22 Points
8. Kimi Raikkonen – 16 Points
9. Bruno Senna – 14 Points
10. Kamui Kobayashi – 9 Points
11. Romain Grosjean – 8 Points
12. Paul di Resta – 7 Points
13. Jean-Eric Vegne – 4 Points
14. Pastor Maldonado – 4 Points
15. Daniel Ricciardo – 2 Points
16. Nico Hulkenberg – 2 Points
17. Michael Schumacher – 1 Point

Constructors Championship Standings:

1. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes – 88 Points
2. Red Bull Racing – 64 Points
3. Scuderia Ferrari – 37 Points
4. Sauber F1 – 31
5. Mercedes AMG Petronas – 26 Points
6. Lotus F1 – 24 Points
7. Williams F1 – 18 Points
8. Sahara Force India – 9 Points
9. Scuderia Toro Rosso – 6 Points

Analysis and Comment

Well, I suppose we can only start by talking about Nico Rosberg. Boring I know seeing as every other sports news outlet has done the same but it’s great to see him get his first win after being the nearly man for so long. Yes he was helped by the conditions but he still put in a performance that was scarily reminiscent of Vettel last year. It was a shame that we didn’t get to see Rosberg vs Schumacher pan out over the course of the race but hopefully there’ll be more chances for that throughout the season. One negative note regarding Mercedes’ chances in Bahrain is the fact that the track temperature will be over double what it was in China and as we have seen in Australia and in qualifying in Malaysia, the W03 does not handle tyre degradation on warm tracks well at all. It’s a bit weird because when Mercedes were Brawn GP way back when, that is the very area that they had great success with. They actually struggled at tracks like Silverstone and in Germany because they couldn’t get the heat into the tyres but now it seems as though they’ve gone too far the other way and get too much heat in their tyres on the average track. It’s a shame because they’ve probably got the fastest car in qualifying trim but they can’t always utilise that performance on the Sunday.

He might be leading the World Championship but Lewis Hamilton won't be able to win it by settling for third every race.

McLaren will look back on this weekend with some disappointment just like they did in Malaysia. Without Hamilton’s grid penalty he could have challenged Rosberg all the way and if Button hadn’t had that costly pitstop error and then been held up by Raikkonen and Vettel for so long, we might have had a late challenge. Despite that they still outscored their rivals in the Constructors Championship and left China with Hamilton and Button first and second in the Drivers Championship. My biggest concern for McLaren is that they are not taking enough of an advantage of the fact they have the best all-round car on the grid and that when the likes of Red Bull introduce upgrades that they might lose that advantage. Also if we’re going to see tracks that suit different cars (about time too!) then losing a race that they should have won like in Malaysia could come back to haunt them. I also have a problem with Hamilton’s suggestion that he’s targeting points finishes instead of victories. He’s become the Prost to Button’s Senna; one always pushing for the win and one settling for third, fourth, fifth or sixth as long as it guarantees points. How times have changed!

Down at Ferrari, it’s been another bitterly disappointing race weekend. Alonso got home with 2 points but yet again Felipe Massa failed to score leaving him as the only driver from the ‘established teams’ on no points. As you know, there’s been a lot of talk of him being replaced (we’re no exception) and even Felipe looks like his enthusiasm has gone. I’m excited to see what Ferrari are going to bring to Europe after these flyaway races as there’s been talk of a completely re-designed car. If that’s true and more importantly if it works then just how precious will Fernando Alonso’s victory in Malaysia prove to be?

Finally onto the contentious issue of the Bahrain Grand Prix. It’s been in the headlines for a while now and it’s still a sensitive issue about whether the F1 grid should be heading to Manama in the first place. Personally I think that politics and sport should be kept separate except in times of humanitarian crises and I class Bahrain as a brewing humanitarian crisis. I know the teams have an obligation to the FIA who have sanctioned the race because Bahrain pays an extortionate amount to host a Grand Prix. Also the race hasn’t exactly got a track record of being  haven of F1 excitement and you have to question if it is worth all the hassle just to watch a procession of Formula 1 cars. I’d have it scratched off the calendar and a replacement race staged at one of the classic European racetracks instead but Bernie isn’t going to go for that.

UPDATE: I actually held off publishing this blog until it’d been confirmed that we were definitely going racing in Bahrain (and also because of an influx in Uni work). The incident involving four Force India mechanics on Wednesday night has re-affirmed the security fears and pretty much rendered the event a farce with the team sitting out second practice this afternoon. Despite what Bernie and the Crown Prince of Bahrain say, this will be remembered along with Indianapolis in 2005 as a black stain on the sport.