Super Seb makes it two in a row

Vettel took the title, Button claimed an emotional win and Hamilton clashed with Massa again. Here's my thoughts on that and more after a brilliant weekend of Formula 1 in Japan...

Supreme Seb seals title success at Suzuka: I had never been a huge fan of Sebastian Vettel until this year. Not that i disliked him, he always had my respect as a quick guy but he was never a favourite, someone i really willed on. When Robert Kubica came through the ranks at BMW i had my eye on him so i suppose the next man along which was Vettel was never going to capture my attention as much. I knew he was fast though and he soon showed it. Debut weekend in America and he scored a point and topped a practice session. Fast forward a year and at a drenched Monza he gets his first opportunity to win a race and takes it. However taking out Kubica at the start of 2009 didn't help my vibes towards him! But the next 2 seasons would see Vettel go from someone with raw speed into more of an all round package. He snatched the title at the death in 2010 but even then i thought the German had more room for improvement.

2011 has been sensational for Vettel. His brilliant qualifying laps, his racecraft and control of a Grand Prix, the coolness under pressure, the fabulous overtakes which some have wondered whether he could produce. It has been a world class display of sheer brilliance and a pleasure to watch unfold (Even if it means the championship not going to the wire) And off the track he's a funny, likeable guy who regularly makes you laugh. He's just annoyingly good! Of course the serious side of Vettel exists and his utter will to win and snap up every prize available is incredible. The appetite hasn't been quenched by 2 world titles and we are set for a few more years of great battles and rivalry between the likes of Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton and Button.

Button victory laids down marker for 2012: It was a glorious Sunday in Suzuka. The sun shining down, the choir singing the national anthem with such beauty on the grid and a race which was close throughout and went down to the wire. First point of contention was the start. I think Vettel pushed his luck with Button but the decision not to penalise him was the correct one. Button ends up in the pit exit and then the track tightens so i think technically the road closed up on him when it got to the point he was on the grass. Don't blame him for feeling aggrieved. The stewards reasoning was strange however as they made the point that Hamilton had taken a similar line to Vettel from the start. Don't see how that really plays an influence in what happens. Good that the FIA are giving reasons at least! Button eventually retook the lead, a pit time 8 tenths quicker than Vettel allowing the McLaren to get the 'overcut'.



Then we had a safety car after debris at Turn 7 (Webber/Schumacher collision) and Turn 16 (Hamilton/Massa) I thought this was a bit of an overreaction at the time because the pieces were small but i understand safety is paramount and the biggest gap on track at the time was 15 seconds between D'Ambrosio and Trulli so it would have been tight for a marshall to get out there. Just feels strange seeing a safety car for pieces of debris and only yellow flags when a burning Renault was exploding at the Budapest pit exit. Hamilton seem to not realise Massa was there in their collision. The stewards explanation on this was also odd taking into consideration that Massa was on trying to overtake on the left into a right hander. Hamilton may have been taking the normal line but you can't just do that when another car is already there! I'm always amazed how aware the drivers are of what's around and behind them being so low in the cars with small mirrors but Hamilton's recent incidents do make you wonder about his awareness around other cars, he has made some clumsy and unneeded moves. He is still a very quick driver and on his day the best and this slump of form will pass by and i feel he will bounce back.

Amongst the joy of Button and Vettel was another tremendous drive from Fernando Alonso. This guy is just relentless, getting everything out of what he has. I actually think Massa is driving better recently as well but it doesn't show up that well because of the form of the Spaniard. He wants a third title badly and will want to get it before Vettel does! Another driver showing good race pace is Michael Schumacher who came in 6th and led a lap of a Grand Prix for the first time since the same race 5 years ago. Another stat from Sunday was that the race had the most finishers on the lead lap in F1 history. 19 cars completed all 53 laps. Cheers to Sean Kelly (@virtualstatman on Twitter) for confirming that one!

Sauber duo impress on and off the track: After 2010 we knew that plenty of attention would be on Kamui Kobayashi and it certainly was as the crowds went wild for anything their home hero did. Unfortunately anti-stall kicked in at the start and a lack of fresh rubber saw him fall back in the closing stages. It was still a positive weekend after all he had done for his country in the wake of the tsunami disaster. Sergio Perez had a stunning race. Starting 17th and suffering from the flu, the Mexican found himself behind Jarno Trulli early on yet managed to come through and take a fantastic 8th, beating the Renault and Force India cars. I didn't know much about him before this season but he is really showing good speed and some feisty combat when wheel to wheel with other cars. He is being touted as a Ferrari driver for 2013 and it wouldn't surprise me to see him there (Sorry Massa fans!) Vitaly Petrov did well to get 9th after 2 stints on the prime tyre and Force India need something special to get 5th from them in the championship now. Another weekend with a crash for Bruno Senna who isn't really doing enough to keep that seat for next year in my opinion. Will the team look towards someone like Rubens Barrichello if Kubica can't return or perhaps stick in Romain Grosjean. We'll have to see how the muddled situation at Renault turns out.

A few words make all the difference: A story doing the rounds before the Japanese Grand Prix was Mark Webber saying he had given up hope of ever winning the world championship. Whilst it hasn't been the best season for the Australian, to see a driver currently in the best car in F1 declare he had no hope of being champion was a surprising one. However on Twitter and during interviews Webber dismissed the reports and said he had been misquoted. As i looked into this i got chatting to Cheryl Tay, the lady who conducted the interview with Webber. So what did he really say? Cheryl confirmed that the question put to Webber was "Have you ever thought of that (2010) as your last chance to be champion?" to which the Red Bull driver replied "yes of course, life goes on" So basically Webber feels that a great opportunity passed him by last season but he hasn't given up on 1 day becoming champion. Shows how easily things get misinterpreted in the media sometimes.

Korea DRS zone location revealed: F1 heads back to Yenogam for a 2nd year and it appears little has been done to the circuit since the 1st race where the track only got FIA approval 2 weeks before the Grand Prix. The pit entry, criticised by many, remains and the many buildings planned around the circuit still haven't come to be. The layout is a good one though with a really mixture of long straights and technical corners. I'm not happy with the DRS zone for this race which is between turns 2 and 3, the longest straight on the track at over 1km. Surely this will provide some action anyway and with DRS added may become too easy. We'll still lots of action, i just fear it will be diluted somewhat. There are shorter straights before and after the DRS zone so expect some battles to continue for a few corners. I like the DRS but there's room for improvement and perhaps the way it is implemented needs adjustment. Hopefully the FIA will assess it closely over the winter.

Lazenby to present F1 on Sky?: The BBC/Sky story has been pretty quiet recently. Mark Thompson said in a BBC radio interview last week that the highlights shows for the races the BBC don't show live will be 75 minutes. No confirmation yet on whether full ace replays will be available on any platform. We know that the BBC will show the British, Monaco and Brazilian races next year. Sky get to pick the next 3 races and then the choosing process alternates 1 pick at a time. The Daily Mail reported this week that Sky are still chasing Martin Brundle for their coverage and that Simon Lazenby could be the presenter. I don't have Sky so don't know much about Lazenby but he seems to be highly rated and worked with Sky's head of F1 on their Rugby coverage. Also interesting to see that the latest follows on his Twitter account are the Ferrari and Red Bull feeds...

What have you made of the 2011 season? Is Vettel now the best driver currently in F1? And who could be the next rising star to join the fight for victories? Let me know in the comments section

Image courtesy of http://www.mclaren.com

Button set for 200th grand prix

Jenson Button is currently in his 12th season in Formula 1 and the 2009 world champion will reach the 200 race landmark this weekend...

Before i delve into Button's career lets attempt to clear up why the McLaren driver considers this weekend to be his 200th Grand Prix. Since he made his debut in 2000 there have been 203 Formula 1 races (up to the 2011 German Grand Prix). BAR's two race ban for an illegal secondary fuel tank takes Button's tally down to 201. His practice crash at Monaco in 2003 left him concussed and he was forced to sit it out. So that's 200 going into this weekend. The contentious issue for the F1 statisticians is the 2005 USA Grand Prix. Button qualified for the race and lined up on the grid but at the end of the formation lap he, along with 13 other cars, pulled into the pits and went no further in the grand prix after safety concerns over tyres. Some class that as a race he didn't start. However the FIA/FOM classifications list Button as a retirement in the race so technically you could argue that he was part of the race. So depending on your viewpoint either last weekends German Grand Prix or this weekends Hungarian Grand Prix is Button's 200th in F1. It seems he is going for this weekend. Now lets move on before i bore you all into closing this page!

After a test for McLaren as part of the reward for winning the BRDC young driver award in 1998 and then with Prost in 1999 where he outpaced the experienced French driver Jean Alesi, Button's opportunity for a race drive came in 2000 with Williams. However he didn't get the seat easy as Jenson explains in these words taken from his official website:

We started at Jerez and moved on to Barcelona, and it was only in Barcelona that I realised Bruno Junqueira and I were battling for a race seat alongside Ralf Schumacher.

One of the first things I had to do when I got to Barcelona was an exam about the engineering side of the sport. All Williams’ drivers have to do this and I knew that I would be absolutely useless because I had no engineering experience at that time! Anyway, I didn't get many laps because we had a lot of mechanical problems, but I had at least driven the circuit in an F1 car so I was familiar with it. I ended the day 0.2s quicker than Bruno.

On the day of the car launch we still didn't know who had got the drive. We both had to do a photoshoot with the car and Ralf, and we then got called up to see Frank individually. When I walked into Frank's office, he looked up and smiled. He asked me to sit down and then he told me I had the drive alongside Ralf. I just said "thank you Frank". The relief was huge.
One hour later I was doing a press conference in front of the whole world which ended up on the front page of all the newspapers.

His debut season would feature glimpses of impressive raw speed. Being in a car that could compete for points allowed Button to show himself to the F1 world but this brought its own pressures. Williams were pleased with how he conducted himself but a dilemma was looming. The team had been trying to get Juan Pablo Montoya to join the team and after failing to get him for 2000 the Columbian was signed for 2001. Williams partnership with BMW stipulated that one of the drivers had to be a German so Ralf Schumacher's seat was safe. This left Button out of a drive but Williams were keen to have him involved in the future so loaned him to Benetton on a two season deal. It would prove to be a difficult time as the car was uncompetitive and the British driver came under public fire from team principal Flavio Briatore. He stayed on for 2002 and things improved but Button again found himself unseated by an up and coming driver as Fernando Alonso moved up from his test role with the team to replace him in 2003.

British American Racing (BAR) was the next destination for Button as he went up against former world champion Jacques Villeneuve. There was some tension early on between the pair but things would improve through the season. 2004 would see this upward curve continue as BAR would be consistently the second best team in the sport. Unfortunately for Button Ferrari had a huge dominance so whilst the podium duck was broken in Malaysia the path to victory for him and his fellow drivers was blocked by Michael Schumacher. The new tyre rules introduced for 2005 only seem to hurt BAR and they found themselves overtaken by the likes of Renault and McLaren. Off the track things had become messy. An attempt to get out of his BAR deal and return to Williams was foiled in 2004 and after signing a pre-contract deal with the Grove based team he had a change of heart. Ultimately Button got his way and remained where he was but at a hefty cost as Williams were paid £18m for not getting the driver they wanted.

Honda took over BAR and the start of 2006 was a case of unfulfilled promise as good situations were not always maximised. As Renault and Ferrari battled for the championship Honda became the third fastest team and in the second half of the season Button scored more points than anyone else. The icing on the cake was in Budapest where Button took a thrilling first win of his career, coming through from 14th on the grid in mixed conditions to take the chequered flag in first.

Read more about Button's first win in Formula 1 here

So going into 2007 Button carried a lot of confidence and momentum but it would turn into a disaster as the car was very uncompetitive. Honda had made some staff changes and the main aerodynamicist would even admit in public that he was struggling with the role and that his main background was motorcycles where aerodynamics are not very important... 2008 was another year of suffering as Button found himself driving at the back end of the grid. Ross Brawn joined the team and sought to improve things but it was difficult to do so in a short term sense. With big regulation changes coming in 2009 Honda gave up the development chase early in the season and eyed up the chance of moving up the order with the clean sheet of paper that the new rules would bring.

Confidence was abound at Brackley. They believed they had a top 3 car. Then it all went wrong with one bombshell from Japan. Honda were pulling the plug on F1 with immediate effect. Most of the seats on the grid were already filled. Button faced time on the sidelines. His career was in limbo. Eventually a deal was done. Honda helped set up Ross Brawn to take the team over. Engine manufacturers offered their services to help the team survive. In late February the team finally got to test and after 5 laps Button described the car as "feeling nice" His engineer replied "Jenson, you are 7 tenths faster than anyone else" Of course that all came out months later but at the time fans speculated about the Brawn team. Did they really have a good car or were the fast times a bit of a publicity stunt in an attempt to attract sponsors to a team which was running a virtually bare car.

You all know what happened next. Button swept aside the field to take 6 wins in the opening half of the season. A rocky middle of the year was stabilised by some solid points finishes and in Brazil he came through from 14th to finish 5th with a series of sensational overtakes marking his race and the dream of the world championship was achieved. Some say that Button's success was simply down to a dominant car but i feel this is harsh. In the first half of the season he did have the best car but he made the most of it, maximising every opportunity. Very impressive and more so when you consider that for the previous two seasons he had been stuck in the lower reaches of the field so to all of a sudden be in contention for wins and delivering the goods was excellent and ultimately the foundation to the championship success. A factor that did play into his hands was the mixed up nature of the season as many teams had spells of good performance and some of the traditional heavyweights struggled to get to grips with the new specification of technical rules.

With mission accomplished it would have been easy for Button to rest on his laurels and become settled so his next move was one that caught me and many off guard as he signed at McLaren to pair up with Lewis Hamilton, the man many believed was the best in the sport. In a sense 2010 would see Button silence many critics despite eventually being edged out by Hamilton. Two early wins in Australia and China showed off his talent in mixed conditions but McLaren were unable to keep up with Ferrari and Red Bull and in the second half of the season fell away slightly though Button almost pulled off victory at Monza and wowed fans early on in the rain at Spa with many overtakes as he read the conditions better. Just a month ago we got more evidence of Button's brilliant feel for grip in mixed conditions as he recovered from two collisions and a drive through penalty to take a breathtaking win after chasing down Sebastian Vettel on the last lap. However Vettel's dominance and retirements in the last two races for Button means a second title is a distant dream for this season.

Comparing drivers is a difficult job and of course the margins involved are so small that it can be harsh to rate drivers as good and bad as they all deserve our respect. For me Alonso and Hamilton are the best in the sport and Vettel is quickly moving up towards that level. For me Button is in the next tier. He doesn't always pull out the raw pace in qualifying and sometimes struggles if the setup isn't totally to his liking. However his racecraft is excellent and his composure and clear thinking when strategy comes into play is supreme. His classiness in racing wheel to wheel has been shown many times including many overtakes in the second half of 2009 as well as two first lap battles with Robert Kubica at Valencia and Belgium in 2010. Button has previously talked about retiring if he won another title but recently said he could go on for another 4 years. I can see him staying at McLaren and a 2012 deal should be a formality. However he has shown he's not afraid of new challenges but apart from maybe an opening at Ferrari i think he would stick with the Woking based team. Can he win another title? Well up against Hamilton it will be difficult but he has shown that he can beat the 2008 world champion and if McLaren deliver a better car then it can't be ruled out. I certainly feel this new style of racing in F1 these past couple of years is more to Button's liking. Sunday will be race 200 and i expect Jenson to race on for a few more years yet. The young boy from 2000 has matured greatly into a champion and ambassador of British sport and remains as hungry as ever for success.

Alonso back on top at Silverstone

A new look Silverstone delivered a wet weekend but amongst the weather and the politics a sell out crowd was served up a brilliant grand prix on Sunday. And i was lucky enough to be there...

Friday was expected to be a bit of a wash out and so it proved to be, though it was quite changeable. At Noon i was sitting at Stowe bathed in sunshine. Before that was FP1. I headed towards the pit straight grandstands. Originally i was heading to the pit entry because i thought the top teams would be there but through a gap i spotted the Red Bull pitwall at the bottom of the pitlane. Most people were aiming for that end though! Eventually got in opposite the FIA garages at the final corner. At least the pitwall was lower at that end! It was a fun spot as the cars were really squirming through Club. A few cars ventured dangerously close to the astroturf and after 3 laps of power sliding Kamui Kobayashi lost it in spectacular fashion. As he got some air my view was blocked for a split second and i thought he was maybe going to roll! Thankfully he didn't but there was plenty of damage to the Sauber as seen in this picture taken by my Sister



Took up a seat at Becketts for FP2 and was really excited because i've heard lots of good things about this viewing area. Unfortunately it rained minutes before the start and i knew that with the first session also being wet and rain still possible for the rest of the weekend that the teams wouldn't want to use up too many tyres. Only 4 cars came out early on, including to my surprise Kobayashi in the repaired Sauber. Then it went very quiet for a long time and eventually i walked down to Copse as the wind was getting hard to handle! So it all fizzled out a bit and in terms of form there wasn't much to read into.

Returned back to the hotel to see Twitter dominated by exhaust rules discussion and disputes between engine suppliers. This would be an issue that would twist and turn all weekend. When i seen Christian Horner and Adrian Newey on the big screen during FP3 in the paddock i reckoned that something exhaust related had changed again! One line that Renault and Red Bull seemed to use a lot through the matter was that reliability would be an issue for them if the rules were changed. However i was talking to a friend with Lotus connections earlier in the week and he said something which at the time didn't mean much to me but which became more relevant as the saga unfolded. His words were that Renault were claiming reliability to be an issue but that this was just a ploy to try and stop the off throttle blowing being banned and hence stop a potential loss of performance

Qualifying was very entertaining as the conditions and circumstances meant everybody was under pressure through all 3 parts of the session and hence lots of laps from the cars. A slight anti climax as rain fell at the end of Q3. The cars came charging into Becketts as the rain fell so pretty dramatic but it meant the grid was set. Then there was some more rain post qualifying but nothing too severe so to see that they started the GP2 race under the safety car was shocking, a terrible and unnecessary decision.

Race morning and it was sunny and warm. It felt like a dry race was in prospect but an hour before the start there was a light shower at Vale. Despite that the track was still good enough for slick tyres but as the drivers came out to make their way to the grid it was clear on the screen that the other side of the circuit had got a much bigger soaking. It really was set to be a great race and so it proved to be. A dramatic opening lap seen Hamilton charging from 10th. Down into Vale Heidfeld and Petrov went into combat and almost collided! Petrov eventually ran out of space and had to give up the place.

Then it was a case of seeing who would make the stop for slicks first. I was tipping Button but it was Schumacher who pitted first, albeit he was coming in anyway after hitting Kobayashi. Another 2011 Mercedes front wing ending up in pieces. Sergio Perez did his usual trick of running long and his alternative tactics really worked out as he picked up a very good 7th. Jaime Alguersuari moved ahead of his team mate Sebastien Buemi in the championship after picking up another point.

The main focus was on the battle up front. Sebastian Vettel streaked away early on but a troublesome pitstop cost him the lead. Fernando Alonso was very quick so may well have challenged for the victory on the track but once he got out front he was away. Lewis Hamilton had fuel issues in the final stint which as confirmed by the BBC afterwards was because they had deliberately short fuelled him. A similar situation to Jenson Button in the same race last year where he started 14th and McLaren short fuelled him. It allowed him to make early progress but then handicapped him in his pursuit of Nico Rosberg and a podium finish. For Hamilton a frustrating finish but i think the strategy was a good one overall. Just shows you how much risk McLaren are having to take though. Hamilton probably would have been lower as well if Button had not been forced to stop after his wheel nut issue. Got a great view of his last lap battle with Massa, great stuff and brilliant to see cars racing to the line!

The other big talking point was the Red Bull battle in the closing laps. After Webber passed Hamilton he immediately closed in on Vettel. At first i didn't expect a fight and that Vettel would pick the pace up. But Webber kept closing and it was very exciting from the stands. After the race i was told that Webber had been told to "Maintain the gap" by Horner. My initial reaction was disappointment as i felt i had been watching a good duel develop and that it had been unfairly called off. On reflection i can see both sides of the argument, Red Bull just want the team to get the points in the bag but Webber wanted to finally beat his team mate this season. The key really is what was discussed before and during the race. If Red Bull have a policy of holding station in the final stint then Webber was quite naughty. I'm told by a Red Bull source that apparently (and i stress apparently) Vettel was told to turn down his engine with 10 laps to go as Alonso could not be caught. If that is true then the team may have created the situation. At the time Webber was still behind Hamilton so perhaps they thought he'd be busy battling him without getting involved with Vettel. Anyway there wasn't much harm done and there's a nice 4 week break in August where Webber can go and sign his contract extension if he wants to...

I thought DRS worked really well at Silverstone. Not many easy passes, lots of close duels and bringing cars closer which seen many battles through the following corners after the zone ended. Very good indeed and hopefully the FIA take note for future races. Track position was worth something in this grand prix but overtaking was still possible. It's been a fantastic season, the cars are actually racing rather than just getting near another car and being stuck. We are getting drivers going for it, being able to be positive rather than sit behind another car and wait for a pitstop and this is really good for the sport.

Another great thing at Silverstone was getting on the track after the race. Me and my Sister made a run for it and having seen on the screen that the podium ceremony was almost over we made a dive up the pit entry where there was hardly anybody and my Sister got some brilliant pictures of the cars sitting in Parc Ferme, That was very cool!







I think Ferrari have improved the car quite a bit but the Red Bull is still the one to beat. Alonso was a very deserving winner but things like the exhaust changes and avoiding the use of the hard tyre played into his hands. He's a superb driver though, he gets a sniff of victory and snaps up the opportunity so well. Vettel still increased his championship lead though. He has ticked many boxes in the last 12 months but one box which remains empty is a win on home tarmac so he'll be pumped up to achieve something which has proved difficult in his short career. A top 2 finish at the Nurburgring will also mean he becomes the first driver in F1 history to start a season with ten consecutive top 2 finishes. Lets hope for a fun double header in Europe before the summer break kicks in.

Valencia set for enthralling race

You can tell it has been a while since i last posted on here when my last post is titled "Bahrain to take place in October"! The FIA took some criticism for the way the situation was handled, a situation that finished with Bahrain being cancelled for the season. Personally i think a lot of it was orchestrated, it was a case of going through the procedures for the FIA whilst always knowing the teams would be against things and in the end the race was removed without much face lost for all parties. It was a long winded process though

And then we had Canada. Wonderful Canada. It's hard not to love this grand prix, the drivers breathe in some Montreal air and it seems to bring out mistakes from most of them! It was just a mad day from all the rain to the drama of the final lap. It was a great win from Jenson Button and a very important one for McLaren. Since Spain they've had a very strong car in the races but it is going to need a big streak of points from Button or Hamilton to rein in Vettel in the championship. It's still very much possible but inroads need to be made into the 60 point gap soon.

So onwards to Valencia and stage 1 of 2 for new exhaust rules which some hope will see Vettel's dominance be halted. However it was normal service this afternoon as the German took his 7th pole of the season. Webber pulled out a late lap to join him on the front row ahead of Hamilton, Alonso, Massa and Button.

Whilst Red Bull have had the strangehold in qualifying, the races have been tighter. Coming back to the exhaust changes, this weekend see's the banning of using an engine map in qualifying and then changing it for the race. The only way you can is by plugging in a laptop at a pitstop and that would not be handy. The limit of 10% for off throttle blowing does not come into effect until Silverstone so what you need this weekend is an in between map. I don't know what amount the teams do it (Autosport did suggest Renault had a max of 95% and Red Bull 45%) In qualifying you can run it aggressively as it is just for 1 lap but doing it throughout the race would not be feasible due to fuel and overheating issues. So what the teams need to do is find a medium map, a constant one which will be usable for the whole race. Come Silverstone, things will be even more restricted.

Valencia races have been very processional. In 2009 there wasn't a single overtake. A depressing statistic which shouldn't be repeated tomorrow as we have 2 DRS zones with a combined length of over 1.5km. This should provide some action and i think we'll see the field staying closer than before. The field spread has been quite big in the opening laps in previous years. DRS zones have tended to be about 700-800 metres and i think they should be a bit shorter but for Valencia this sort of length may be what is needed.

This means we could actually have wheel to wheel racing in Valencia tomorrow, a big feature of the 2011 season. We've also seen many incidents. I think it's important to be appreciative of how good these drivers are. It can look so simple on TV but anyone who has been fortunate enough to see the cars in the flesh racing will have got that sensation of speed displayed in front of their eyes. Of course situations get analsyed because they have consequences during a race but we can all be too fickle about certain drivers and dismiss them when really the margins involved are so small and the skill level so high. I'm guilty of this too, i heavily criticised Vettel post race in Spa last year and even was arguing about his race on Twitter with people but that was an overreaction and undeserved. I thought things were getting away from him that day in the heat of the moment but ultimately he recovered to take the title and has driven at a very high level this season and been very impressive as an overall package. So let's not be dismissive of these drivers, they are fantastically talented and some of the racing this year has been excellent.

Tyres key again, the medium compound is proving to be quite a bit slower than the soft tyre so expect the prime tyre to be used as little as possible. A hot day expected tomorrow so may make the medium tyre easier to switch on. The changeover to it and getting it working may be key. In Barcelona, Alonso fell away when the hard tyre came into play and it turned into Vettel v Hamilton for the win. McLaren will hope to get in amongst the Red Bulls so Hamilton can attack for the lead. Lets just hope in a calmer manner for Lewis tomorrow! So Red Bull start as favourites but i think an enthralling race in prospect. Can Hamilton get his season back on track or will Alonso delight his local fans? Let's hope for a fun race

Vettel gets the win he wanted

A gripping 3 way battle was keeping F1 fans hooked to their screens but some traffic chaos deprived us of an epic finish. It was still a weekend full of talking points though...

Vettel makes it 5 out of 6: A lot of people felt Sebastian Vettel was lucky to win this race, comments which i can understand after the race because there was such a tense finish in store, but these are unfair. He delivered a superb lap to take pole position, was making the 1 stop strategy work and withstanding the pressure from Alonso. Of course between the traffic and the tyre degradation it would have been a fascinating finish without the red flag. I reckon, barring any abnormal incidents between the front 3 or a backmarker in the way, Vettel would have either hung on or hit the 'cliff' and fallen to 3rd. Something to ponder is that in Melbourne Perez did 185km on the soft compound and when the safety car was deployed near the end Vettel had done 175km on his set of tyres (same compound) with 30km to go. Red Bull said afterwards that the wrong compound was put on the world champion's car and that what should have been a 2 stopper was adjusted, on the call of Vettel himself, to a 1 stop. However BBC reporter Ted Kravitz had doubts over whether this was actually true. Red Bull changed their pitstop procedures this weekend after concerns Ferrari were reading their strategy in Spain but maybe they should reconsider after some serious confusion at the stop!

This allowed Jenson Button into the lead and he was on the options and pushing very hard whilst Vettel took the conservative route and nursed his primes. However he kept within a pitstop so when Button pitted again he had P1 again. McLaren then opted for a 3 stopper at this point which was a strange move. They had the information that the primes would do over half a race distance and really that cost Button second place and would have meant he was the man troubling Vettel rather than Alonso. Another trick missed by McLaren, though ultimately not mattering, was not pitting Button when the safety car was deployed for a second time. He was 40 seconds ahead of Kobayashi when it was deployed so could have pitted for new primes (no options left), retained third place and caught up to Alonso again but now with fresher rubber to be able to attack better on the final laps. Of course the red flag meant everybody got a chance to change without loss. Many complained this spoilt the restart and it did but it's a very rare situation and really things should be open as conditions can be variable, it was just the circumstances of yesterday that made it a shame.

Hamilton suffers a weekend of mayhem: Lewis Hamilton loves Monaco. Just thinking about flinging a car around the tight streets of Monte Carlo leaves him with a feeling of excitement at a place where his hero Ayrton Senna was so brilliant. Things were going well on Saturday as he topped Q1 and Q2 and had 2 sets of options for the all important Q3. As his main rivals got a time in early on there was no sign of the #3 car. Eventually he appeared but had a terrible sector 1. He blamed Felipe Massa in front but the Ferrari had not blocked the McLaren. Then the big accident for Perez caused a 40 minute delay. 2:26 left on the clock meant 9 cars would get a lap in fine and McLaren had ample time to calculate that. Yet they sent him out over 2 minutes before the session restarted. Cold tyres = no grip and Hamilton soon found that out, ending up cutting a corner and having his time deleted.

So he was clearly fast but it was going to be hard work from 9th on the grid. After several laps on Michael Schumacher's gearbox he made a sweet move into Ste Devote. Then it went downhill. A bad pitstop left him in traffic. Then he made an unrealistic move on Felipe Massa. He accused the Brazilian of turning in on him. Well Lewis that might have been because he was taking a corner... Then the scrap continued into the tunnel. Hamilton got a good run on him (KERS assisted at a guess) and passed in the tunnel. Massa got on the marbles and hit the wall. Race over. Then after the red flag Hamilton was all over Maldonado and into turn 1 had a look, he got half alongside and perhaps he felt it was doable after the earlier Schumacher move but really it was just too ambitious for such a tight corner and he pitched the Williams out of the race which was such a shame. Then came the post race outburst which was all a bit silly and unneeded. Hamilton has had down beat moments in his career before but this really was the worst of the lot. However he has had a habit of bouncing back with some great results so lets see what he bounces back with in Montreal, a place where he is mighty.

Elsewhere it was delight for Kamui Kobayashi with a career best 5th, though he was lucky to escape a penalty for hitting Sutil. Stewards really got that one wrong though he would have stayed 5th anyway. Sutil was 4th having been under constant pressure from the Sauber. The pair made a 1 stop strategy work and were helped by cars in front struggling and then getting stuck in traffic. Sutil emotions are probably mixed because the incident cost him time and then he got a puncture yet he still salvaged 7th! Behind Nick Heidfeld also had a good drive through to 8th and moved up to 6th in the championship. Rubens Barrichello finally got on the score board in 2011 and Sebastien Buemi took the final point after Jaime Alguersuari crashed. In the midst of the chaos near the end, it was intriguing to hear David Coulthard, Red Bull employee, on the BBC say during the replays that "Alguersuari, the man under review" Of course it could just be a general remark about the pressure both Toro Rosso drivers are under with Daniel Ricciardo waiting in the wings but perhaps a hint that it is the Spaniard that could be in line to make way for the Australian as it stands. He does have good backing coming from Spain and his Father but at the minute Buemi is the man picking up the points.

Best wishes to Vitaly Petrov and Sergio Perez after their weekend accidents. Hopefully they'll both be racing in Montreal in 2 weeks.

Looking at DRS and racing in 2011

The main talking point from the Turkish Grand Prix was the Drag Reduction System (DRS) and whether it was making overtaking too easy and artificial. Here's my thoughts on it...

Let's start by saying why the DRS system was introduced in the first place. A main objective of the teams and the sport was to create more overtaking after a survey a few years back seen more than 80% of fans who answered saying more overtaking was the number one thing they wanted to see. A high figure indeed. Changes would come, the main things were in 2009 with the overhaul of the cars (front and rear wings, bodywork, adjustable front wing) We seen some good action initially but the very clever people of F1 were soon finding new ways of adding downforce and again the problem of cars following closely was occurring with regular ease. So the idea was developed of a rear wing which could be adjusted to reduce drag so a car could increase straight line speed behind another car and make up for the loss which you suffer in the dirty air. So the principle of the adjustable rear wing was to allow cars to have a better chance of overtaking when close to another.

A fair enough principle and when you look at the extra speed it gives a driver it would have probably helped cars get closer in the 2010 season but without too many passes where it was done before the braking zone. So i think it would have really helped things, especially on circuits like Valencia, Barcelona and Budapest where overtaking is very difficult. However this season has seen Pirelli come back to the sport and their tyres are much less durable than the Bridgestones of the past seasons. This has been a massive change in the dynamic of the racing. We've rarely seen this rate of degradation in recent years (Australia 2009 and Canada 2010). The problem of close racing has been fixed by this because there are more variable strategies and people with different levels of grip throughout the race. The DRS 'oversolves the problem' because when you have it coupled with better tyres it is easy to overtake

In the first stints of races this season we have seen good racing and barely any easy overtakes because the tyre wear between cars is relatively equal. So what the DRS has been brought in to do has actually worked well because we've had loads of close battles but never too easy. Come the pitstops and we get the split in strategies and then the chaos really begins as we get people on old tyres attacked by new tyres. So because of this cars are getting close, overtakes happen in unusual places and if they reach the DRS zone then it's just a slam dunk.

I agree that the DRS was too powerful at times in Turkey. A tail wind on race day seem to make the DRS an even stronger weapon than usual. What we should remember is that against the negative of some of these easy passes was a massive amount of battles into turn 12 as well as other duels around the track. There was loads of action and way more than in races of previous seasons. It's not a perfected thing yet but it is an improvement. Fans have spent years frustrated at the processional nature of Sunday afternoons and living in hope of some rain during a race just to make it interesting. This is now gone. The opening 4 races of the season have been 'normal' races. No rain, no safety cars, just a proper grand prix and 3 out of 4 have been crackers in my opinion.

It's important that the FIA continue to analyse the affect the DRS has. Personally i'd like to see the DRS zone reduced slightly. Doing this or moving it to a part of the track which isn't such an obvious overtaking spot would help spread things about a bit. Another option would be having 2 really short zones so a driver would get more regular but smaller 'boosts' so that the disadvantage of the dirty air is combated. Yet another option would be allowing each driver a certain amount of times to use the rear wing during a race. That would make it more strategic and less gimmicky. I still think the 1 second zone idea was a necessary one because that's how bad things had become regarding overtaking but now that we may have improved things it is less needed. The DRS is still a very clever device and has a place in Formula 1. It just isn't needed as prominently now we have the changes to the tyres. Another tweak could be to reduce the gap in the rear wing when the DRS is activated, hence reducing the extra speed gained.

There are other factors in the racing. I've mentioned the tyres and hailed them as a success. 4 stops was probably one too many in Turkey but China showed how the split between 2 and 3 kept the race in suspense until the end. Pirelli are learning all the time. Track design is also key. Just look at those brilliant final corners in Istanbul. Yet some circuits seem unable to simply stick a tight corner at the end of a long straight. It isn't that difficult for most places!

So lets be positive about the fact F1 is actually tackling the on track issues and have tried to improve things. There are still areas to work on but the sport is heading in a good direction. There's been a great buzz about the season so far, people are enjoying it and there is plenty of enthusiasm for what lies ahead in 2011.

So in conclusion, the fundamental issue of the cars being so aerodynamically good and the cars being so grippy remains. This growing issue triggered the creation of the DRS to help cars get close and produce more on track racing. The new tyres have given the teams a strategic and racing headache and allowed more variance in the tactics. Most of the simple passes have come when cars have had major differences in tyre compounds/wear. The DRS alone has helped create lots of action but coupled with other factors can become too powerful at times. However there have been lots of great battles this year to outweigh these negatives. It still needs more analysis and tweaking but the ingredients are there to create a new era of Formula One which delights old and new fans alike

Hamilton supreme in Chinese classic

Another thrilling race in Shanghai as Lewis Hamilton ended Sebastian Vettel's winning run with a late race charge...

Hamilton soars as Button loses out: Jenson Button had a good start and was holding the lead ok in the first stint. Of course with Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel close behind the timing of the first pitstop was key. McLaren ended up running a 3 stop strategy on both cars but the initial plan was to 2 stop. The team came out for Button on lap 14 but he didn't come in until the next lap. He then made a terrible error by pulling into the Red Bull box. That cost both him and Vettel time. One possible theory (and this is simply guesswork!) is that Button was trying to stay out for as long as possible to make a 2 stop work better but that the team, having seen others behind pit, were reacting to the pace of the likes of Rosberg and changing to a 3 stopper because of the speed of other cars. So perhaps there was quite a bit of radio conversation and who knows amidst the busy nature of racing in 2011 maybe Jenson got distracted at the key moment in the pitlane. His pace was subdued after that and he would eventually get outdone by Hamilton.

Indeed Hamilton had been compromised because he had to wait an extra lap to pit and fell back on worn tyres, being overtaken by Vettel and Felipe Massa in consecutive laps. However his second stint was better, aided by a fresh set of options he had saved. It was interesting that a week on from Malaysia he had made such an effort to do so and it was clear after qualifying that tyres were on his mind and that he had deliberately plotted a strategy designed to maximise his race performance. Going for the extra stop really played better into his more attacking style and into the final stint he was back in the hunt and did a clean job of taking the cars ahead for a great victory.

Vettel's streak broken as Webber fights back: Red Bull ended up with 2 cars on the podium yet the fact that disappointment was felt by the team shows how far they've come. Vettel got a poor start but recovered positions at the first stop to find himself behind Nico Rosberg. Red Bull went for a 2 stop strategy and although it turned out to be the wrong decision there wasn't much in it. Having done 15 laps in the race in his qualifying tyres, he only managed a 17 lap stint in the middle of the race. That left him 24 laps on the primes and it proved to be slightly too much to hold off Hamilton. One mistake i did feel Red Bull made was sending the German out for a second run in Q3 when it was pretty clear that pole position was in the bag. Easy to say with hindsight but Vettel's first run was a good one and he would have not eeked out much more time even if it had been needed. In previous seasons this would not have been a big deal but it seems that putting a heat cycle into these Pirelli tyres really does take some life out of them if they are then reused. Expect quieter qualifying sessions with the current circumstances.

On Saturday evening i was pondering the future of Mark Webber. Out in Q1, the 2 junior Red Bull drivers doing brilliantly in making the top 10 and a bit of pressure was building even at this early stage of 2011. Would he let his head drop or fight back? Sunday showed it was the latter as he come from 18th to take a superb podium. Qualifying was a poor show, he only used the prime tyres and the car seem fine. If it had not been surely they would have given him some options. Why they didn't give him more laps at least was bizarre from the team. Anyway his pace on Sunday was mighty and showed that the RB7 is still the quickest out there. There were some conflicting reports about whether he had his KERS working or not. The actual details were that it worked until lap 24. He actually could have remarkably beaten Vettel because he had an off early in the race which cost him around 4 seconds so without that he probably would have caught his team mate late on. We also seen from his race that using the prime tyre early could be a good tactic this year. If we get an early safety car at some races i can envisage drivers pitting to get rid of it or even pitting for it and pitting again a lap later just so they can get it out of the way.

Felipe finds some form: Felipe Massa was unhappy after the race. This is good though because rather than the mentality of "i beat Fernando, that'll do" it was a case of him wanting more from the afternoon. His pace was good for a 2 stopper and i felt that was the right approach from Ferrari because they didn't have the pace to the teams in front so it was worthwhile trying something different. Unfortunately for the Brazilian track position is not as important this year and he was caught by a few drivers late on. Still it was nice to see him in the mix and battling with the drivers at the front Not much to say on Alonso's race, the Spaniard didn't seem quick throughout and limped home a frustrated 7th.

F1 changes a roaring success: It really was a tremendous race and credit to Pirelli who seem have got it right with the tyres. The DRS system is making for much more close action. Some say it has made passing too easy. My response to that is that some of the overtakes are indeed 'simple' but for those few easy passes you get lots of good one's and good battles. It also created moves in other places. For example Hamilton was able to get close to Button with DRS which allowed him a chance of passing into turn 1. In my opinion we are much better with racing like this than than what we have witnessed in some other seasons. Remember we were at a circuit which has seen little overtaking in dry races. It also helps more variable strategies become viable. On Sunday we got over 80 overtakes and the whole race was absorbing and thrilling. A peak audience of 5 million in the UK says a lot as well.

There is some talk that in Turkey we could have 2 DRS zones, perhaps with just 1 activation zone. So say we had zone's on the back and pit straights. There would be an activation point before the first one and if you are within a second of another car you can then use your DRS in the 2 zones for that particular lap. Now i think that would be too much and is unneeded unless it is a case of having the zones made shorter. So rather than one big (800 metre) gain in the lap you could make two smaller (400 metre) gains. This could eliminate the 'easy' overtakes but still allow cars to get close. The FIA may trial this in Istanbul. Another way could be giving the drivers a finite amount to use it during the race but this doesn't seem to be in the pipeline for now anyway. i think it is feasible and certainly feel it would be a great way to make the KERS more tactical at least.

Sepang serves up exciting weekend

A 4 way showdown for Pole Position on Saturday was followed by an action packed race with 55 overtakes and 63 pitstops. Up front, Sebastian Vettel continued his brilliant form with a fourth consecutive grand prix win. There were loads of stories throughout the field...

Vettel wins and Webber recovers: Sebastian Vettel had to work harder for his win this weekend than in Melbourne. Qualifying saw him edge out Lewis Hamilton and despite a loss of his KERS during the race he won without too many problems. Mark Webber had a manic race. After a KERS issue in qualifying the team replaced parts of the system in Parc Ferme. However it failed before the race and coupled with a poor start left the Australian swamped. He fought back with a 4 stop strategy, 1 more than most drivers. The advantage of that was he could really attack on his shorter stints and made up the time loss of an extra stop - and more. A good fightback to 4th will left his spirits but in still has a team mate to deal with whose confidence is sky high.

Hamilton v Alonso: Lap 45 and 46 seen controversy - heightened by post race penalties - between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren driver was penalised for moving more than once on the pit straight. We've seen drivers in past seasons push this 'code' but this year it is a written rule. In a Ferrari pre-season video their sporting director seem well up on the new regulations and it wouldn't surprise me if he was the one who told the team to protest the move. That was key because it forced the stewards to analyse it and make a decision and by the rule book Hamilton did break a rule. I think his thinking in the move was confused. Alonso was close and he probably thought that he'd be under more pressure but because the Ferrari's DRS wasn't working he wasn't as quick on the straight. So Hamilton made unnecessary moves and then backtracked and it cost him. Alonso got a harsh penalty for what was a minor mistake. If you penalise him for that then you have to penalise a lot of other incidents e.g Webber hitting Hamilton Australia 2010, Vettel hitting Sutil Great Britain 2010 etc. Costly mistake because a podium was there for the taking.

Fortunes reversed for Renault pair: Lewis Hamilton said after a stunning start move in Malaysia in 2007 around the outside that he had studied the past starts at the track and decided to go that way. On Sunday he looked for the inside instead and on that outside route came Nick Heidfeld in the Renault. Some stunning racing between the pair continued to turn 4 but it was the German who would make it stick and finish the lap 2nd after starting 6th. He lost some ground during his first stop but kept his cool - apart from 1 brief off track moment - to come home 3rd. Vitaly Petrov wasn't far off the pace of his team mate but a few minor mistakes seen him slip back. When Hamilton pitted late on Petrov had him in his mirrors and he ran off the circuit after getting offline onto the numerous marbles. Probably in a panic to maintain 7th he kept his foot down but on the mounted grass he got a massive amount of air and snapped the steering wheel mounting as well as wrecking the suspension. A nasty and bizarre incident for the Russian.

Mixed day for the rookies: Another race, another point for Paul di Resta. He delivered a good, clean weekend. The Force India hasn't got the raw pace but the evolution of the car has at least ensured some reliability. He has benefited from a good grounding with those practice runs last year but he has come in and coped well in what have been busy races. Replacing Liuzzi with the Scot is proving to be a good decision. Sergio Perez had his race ended in very strange circumstances. A piece fell off Sebastien Buemi's car and struck the floor of the Sauber. This set off a fire extinguisher which in turn knocked off the electrics in the car. Pastor Maldonado had more mechanical issues, Williams had a poor weekend and the South Americian hasn't been able to show his worth yet. Another tough weekend for Jerome D'Ambrosio who will be awaiting Virgin's updates with eagerness.

Confused? I'm confused: In an ideal world we would want every race to be a great race with clear and good entertainment. The addition of DRS and the deliberate making of high wearing tyres have been done to improve the show. Of course you would rather not revert to these gadgets but in this day and age it is needed. Sunday was a fantastic race and to see some journalists who report on the sport spinning a negative story on it because of all the activity is quite strange and disappointing. I'm looking at this more on a UK perspective but the race on Sunday recorded the best figures for a race in Malaysia ever. My Dad stayed and watched the whole thing. A guy who works for him even watched some of the race and enjoyed it. It was a fantastic race and i will take one like that every day over one like Bahrain 2010. KERS, DRS, the removal of the double diffusers and the tyres all played their part. Don't forget track design. It is clear that this is a factor. Sepang's long straights followed by tight corners in Sector's 1 and 3 really contribute to the action. Other circuits take note.

A few other things to note from the past weekend as well as the one to come in Shanghai.

- Another difficult weekend for Ferrari but the Prancing Horse was closer to the pace during the race. Senior staff have flown back to Italy between these back to back races which tells you a lot about the concern that there is about the car. It's believed by Italian media that the team will see how the Chinese Grand Prix goes before deciding on what course of action they will take with the development with the car. Ferrari implemented big updates during 2010 so don't write them off yet.

- Sebastien Buemi received a stop/go penalty for speeding in the pitlane. He was clocked doing 120.6 km/h in the 100 km/h limited pitlane. He pressed the limiter coming in but felt it had not gone on. However it had and in pressing it again thinking he was putting it on he turned it off and subsequently broke the limit. Usually this gets a drive through penalty so maybe he got a harsher penalty for the excess of speed he had. You could argue a situation like Lewis Hamilton passing the safety car in Valencia last year could have been dealt with in a similar manner. Jaime Alguersuari reported understeer in his car and it was discovered afterwards that there was damage to the front nose.

- There was some surprise when Hamilton went onto prime tyres at his second stop and used that compound until the end of the race. This can probably be explained by Q2 where he flatspotted his right front tyre into turn 1. So that set of tyres may well have been deemed unusable for the race. This meant he only had the set he started on plus one other set, forcing him into doing half the race on primes. That qualifying lock up may well have proved quite costly. Another imprtant thing is the tyre drop off. Sauber ran longer in the first stint in expectation of rain but once the tyres went off they were 3-4 seconds slower a lap. Kamui Kobayashi did manage a 2 stop strategy so another example of Sauber keeping the tyres well on their car.

- The DRS zone in China will be just over 900 metres long and positioned on the 1.175 km back straight between turn 13 and 14. The detection zone for the 1 second gap will be at turn 12. Should see plenty of action down into the hairpin. There has been resurfacing carried out on parts of the track. Also a 4.5 metre debris fence at turn 14. This is probably a response to the incident with Sebastien Buemi in practice last year where a wheel from the Toro Rosso went into a spectator area. We've seen a lot of standing water gather at times in the final corner during wet races in the past at Shanghai and the organisers have changed the drainage on that part of the track.

- Some quotes have come out from the organisers at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain which say they are still trying to get the race on at some point this year. There is even some talk that the King of Bahrain will be in the Shanghai paddock this weekend. Abu Dhabi is prepared to let Bahrain have their November 13th slot and then move the race at Yas Marina to December 4th. They'll be happy to do this as it means they get the season finale. A few weeks ago it seem unlikely in the extreme that a race would occur in Bahrain this year but the possibility remains open. At present the UK foreign office still advise against all but essential travel to the region

- The timetable for the Indian Grand Prix has been revealed:

Times are Local/UK

Fri 28 October
Practice 1 1000 - 1130/0530 - 0700
Practice 2 1400 - 1530/0930 - 1100
Sat 29 October
Practice 3 1100 - 1200/0630 - 0730
Qualifying 1400/0930
Sun 30 October
Race 1500/0930

Williams pitlane nightmares

Pastor Maldonado had a good day of practice in Sepang but coming into the pits during the afternoon session he suffered a spin and hit the wall. He's not the first Williams driver to struggle with a pit entry/exit or pitlane though...

Nigel Mansell was on course for victory until this disaster of a pitstop. Portugal, 1991.



David Coulthard was going well but got caught out by a slippery and tight pit entry. Australia, 1995.



Ralf Schumacher was in hot pursuit of his brother at the Nurburgring but carelessly running over the pit exit line meant he got a penalty and cost him a chance of challenging for the win (3:12). Europe, 2001.



Kazuki Najakima made his F1 debut at Interlagos after the retirement of Alex Wurz. He at least made an impact in the pitlane. Brazil, 2007.



This incident is better remembered for the coming together of a McLaren and a Ferrari but Nico Rosberg also made an error here. Canada, 2008.



In the same race, Kazuki Nakajima damaged his front wing and as he pitted it went underneath the car and into the wall he went (6:22). Canada, 2008.



Rosberg was driving a blinder at Marina Bay in 2009 and on course for a podium but coming out of the pits after his first stop he ran wide, cut the white line and was given a drive through penalty (3:32). Singapore, 2009.





Pastor Maldonado loses it coming into the pits earlier today. Malaysia, 2011.

F1 2011: Racing, Strategy and Tactics

After a winter of testing and speculation the 2011 season is almost upon us. A number of changes have been made since Abu Dhabi in November with KERS back and the adjustable rear wing introduced. F-Ducts and double diffusers have been banned and Pirelli have taken over as tyre supplier from Bridgestone. Racing is set to be different but what can be expect? Read on for my thoughts on what sort of racing we could well see throughout the season...

Tyres: 2010 was a season which seen very durable tyres, some compounds even capable of lasting an entire race distance. Pirelli have been given a mandate of producing tyres which will wear out quicker, forcing more pitstops and more variance in the strategies that teams will run. There are 4 dry compounds as well as an intermediate and wet tyre. They will be as followed:

Super Soft - Red
Soft - Yellow
Medium - White
Hard - Silver
Intermediate - Light Blue
Wet - Orange

Each weekend there will be 2 of these compounds available. Usually this will be either a combination of Super Soft/Medium or Soft/Hard. It's clear from testing that the degradation is quite high and we are set to see 2/3 stops from each driver in a race. One team has even factored in the possibility of a 5 stop strategy! It should be noted that the intermediate and wet tyres are much harder and so should be able to run quite a distance if required.

Strategy is going to be intriguing, difficult and hectic for the teams. Q3 will see the option tyre being the clear one to use if you want to get on the front row of the grid. However we could see some people going for the prime tyre and deciding to utilise a better race strategy. Qualifying will be quite intense because you will go into it with 3 sets of options and 3 sets of primes. We could see less running during qualifying as well as practice though the teams are getting an extra set of tyres at some weekends for the Friday sessions. So if we have a weekend where tyre degradation is very high and a 4 stopper is need for the race you will have to restrict yourself to using 1 set of tyres per qualifying session. The front runners will want to try and get through the first 2 sessions with 1 run on options or perhaps a set of primes which then gives you 2 runs on options in Q3 if it is needed. Then you start the race on one of those sets and use primes for the rest of the race. Note the rule of using both compounds in a race remain.

Lewis Hamilton commented that he had tyres destroyed after a 9 lap run during testing. However we have seen 20 lap stints as well so clearly the compounds vary. Much is made of the different styles of the drivers and how this may affect things but it is unclear whether the Pirelli tyres are affected by this or whether mileage alone is the key factor in their wear rate. Another noticeable aspect of testing was the amount and size of pieces of rubber and marbles coming off the tyres. If we have a dry weekend then race day could see a track which has 1 racing line and it extremely slippery offline and this could hurt overtaking moves but see more mistakes. The FIA may have to look at washing the track on Saturday nights if it became detrimental to the season

KERS: The Kinetic Recovery Energy System is back after it debuted with some teams in 2009. Now we have most teams utilising the system, only Virgin, Lotus and HRT have definitely ruled it out for now. Mercedes were considered to have the best KERS a couple of years ago which will please them and customer outfits McLaren and Force India. The likes of Williams have had teething issues and i feel that Ferrari, McLaren and Renault will benefit from their past usage of the system.

The start will again be key with it, using your energy as soon as you are not traction limited. More cars will have it now so there will be more of a cancelling out effect but if you can hold position and save a bit you can perhaps attack later on in the lap. I think the teams will make use of it regularly. It can bring 0.2-0.33 seconds per lap and with regulation changes stabilising the weight distribution teams will not be able to make this up as easy with revised ballast placement. Same rules apply as 2009, you can use it for 6.67 seconds per lap.

Adjustable Rear Wing: The Adjustable Rear Wing (ARW) or Drag Reduction System (DRS) as it is also being called is a new gadget for the drivers to use this season. Gone are the adjustable front wings after 2 seasons. Each rear wing will be capable of having a slot activated which opens it, reducing drag and increasing straight line speed by 8-12 km/h. This is opened by the driver in the cockpit with a switch or button and once open remains so until the driver next uses the brakes when it closes within 20 milliseconds of the brake pedal being pressed.

In practice and qualifying the use of the wing is unlimited and the driver can use it whenever they want. This should make qualifying laps quite interesting because as soon as they accelerate onto a straight or indeed go through a flat out corner which they can take with reduced downforce they will want the wing activated so the drag, and indeed the laptime, is reduced. Some drivers have complained about this but really it is not much different to having to operate a F-Duct last year so i can see them getting on top of it early on.

The races see a different situation for the ARW. First of all the use of the wing is not allowed on the opening 2 laps and on the 2 laps after any safety car period under any circumstances. For the other parts of the race the wing is only open to use in pre-determined overtaking zones. A timing loop will be set up at a particular part of the circuit. Then ahead of this will be a line on the track which will indicate the start of the overtaking zone. If you pass the timing loop within a second of the car in front you will be able to activate the ARW when you cross the line. For the opening races this zone is designed to be 600 metres before the braking zone for the next corner but the FIA can adjust the parameters surrounding this new device throughout the season based on what they see in the season.

From what i understand, the best way to maximise speed is to open the rear wing and then deploy KERS. So when you exit the last corner of your outlap you will want to do that in the right order to get the highest speed to start your lap. Another issue will be gear ratios. You will want your 7th gear set so it just maxs out with the ARW open and KERS being used. You could have it set lower and give yourself better overall top speed when running without the use of either but i feel the teams won't do this because it would be too costly to performance in qualifying and hence negatively affect your chances.

The race is going to be a bit different though because if you are trying to catch the car in front you will (depending on the relative pace of the cars involved) want to use the KERS to push yourself into the 1 second window to activate the rear wing. However if the car in front saves some KERS he can respond to the activation of the rear wing by deploying KERS so i think we will see some of that this season. In terms of the ARW improving overtaking i think with the current way it is being utilised a car will have to be within 0.5 seconds to have a chance of passing. What we will see is a car enter the zone and suddenly move towards the car in front quite quickly. This may not result in an actual overtake at the time but we may see some closer battles, times when the driver in front is forced more defensive and indeed more late lunges. Malaysia and China in particular will show better the advantage it gives.

Safety Car: Some slight adjustments regarding the rules surrounding the deployment of the safety car. The delta time which you have to not exceed when the safety car is first deployed now must be maintained for 2 laps instead of 1 lap. This seems minor but basically means for that period the race is neutralised. So if you are a team which has cars running closely and you want both to pit you can pit one immediately and the other car the following lap and should in theory not lose out. This will mean queueing will not be required in the pitlane and should ensure a calmer and hopefully safer pitlane. A note about the pitlane is that the fast lane is only wide enough for 1 car now so more space for the mechanics and no side by side racing in the pitlane. The green light will always be on at the pit exit so drivers can come out even if there is other cars close by.

So a lot of new aspects to Formula 1 this season. I think the tyres will be a massive part of the season. Anytime we have had a big change it has seen certain teams adapt better and the new rubber could suit some drivers better than others. It could be a very reactive situation in races. Perhaps a 3 stop strategy will be the plan at the race start. However if people start to feel their tyres go they'll pit to try and jump others on fresh tyres because of the difference in compounds. This will force other drivers to react even if their tyres are not totally finished. Teams will shift their pitstops forward and then perhaps leave themselves with a longer final stint. The dilemma then is whether you hang on to the end of the race or make an extra pitstop and try and recover the time with fresher tyres.

The adjustable rear wing will be an intriguing aspect and i think people who think that cars will be breezing past too easy shouldn't worry. KERS should keep the starts manic and busy but we could see a cancellation effect when the wing and KERS go into combat. In terms of strategy you are now more likely to pit even if there is traffic because on fresh tyres and with the ARW you can make your way through the field quicker so whereas the optimum strategy was generally stuck to last year, 2011 may see teams take more of a risk with an extra stop and on certain tracks it may be workable. Don't forget that with the double diffuser gone we should see cars able to run a bit closer with less turbulent air and the cars are a bit slower than before so should be slghtly easier to attack a car in front.

It promises to be an exciting, competitive and fascinating season and it all kicks off this weekend in Melbourne

McLaren under pressure to deliver

In the past 10 years, McLaren have had many great drivers of the 21st century driving their cars. Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have all passed through the doors of the Technology Centre in Woking, a superb factory with excellent facilities. Built through the strength of McLaren's history and their brand value which today sees them placed as one of the biggest names in Formula 1 with sponsorship from the likes of Vodafone. Yet in this past decade they have seen a drinks company win twice as many championships as them, Ferrari cement their place as the sport's most successful team and only have Lewis Hamilton's 2008 drivers title as a show of achievement.

A sensationalised opening paragraph but one designed to trigger some thinking over what McLaren have done in recent seasons. We almost expect the silver and rocket red cars to be in the mix come the season opener yet for all the might they have possessed they have actually underachieved. With two world champions in the cockpits at present they have drivers capable of winning and certainly hungry to do so. Yet 2010 seen a promising opening half of the season eventually fade away as they found themselves out-developed by Red Bull and Ferrari.



Jenson Button is a very relaxed man these days after taking the title in 2009 but remains determined. However he is now into his thirties and seems very happy in the McLaren environment and may well be content to finish his career with the team. It's well known that Lewis Hamilton has been with McLaren for most of his life, let alone his career. However he is a man used to winning throughout that career and since the drama of Interlagos in 2008 he has rarely had a race winning car at his disposal. When he has had the opportunity to win he has usually taken it. Hamilton has shown in these past 2 years that his raw speed and ability to drive a car to the limit is clear.

Would he really leave McLaren? It seems hard to imagine in the colours of any other team on the grid. Without his Father at his side trackside this year Lewis became more independent in race weekends and certainly showed plenty of frustration in the heat of the moment such as Melbourne and Monaco when he disagreed with the tactics of his team. The Finnish website Turun Sanomat, well known for good connections within the McLaren team, even went as far to suggesting that Hamilton was on the brink of walking out on the team. I find that a bit far fetched to believe, they say things boiled up after the summer break but of course Lewis had a great win at Spa and the gesture of taking his whole team out bowling in Japan does not seem to suggest a driver totally at odds with his team.



However should 2011 not involve race wins the picture could change. McLaren have taken a radical approach to their 2011 car, something which was needed because the MP4-25 struggled on many tracks. Testing has seen many reliability issues and whilst times are hard to read it has been said by many watching in the cars in Spain that the car looks hard work to drive. Early days but for now Red Bull and Ferrari seem to be more solid and quicker with their evolutionary cars. Hamilton is contracted to the end of 2012 but whether the potential of an open seat at either of those 2 teams would tempt the British driver remains to be seen.

McLaren really need to get things together though. The resources are there and so are the drivers. It's a fierce battle between the teams but McLaren need to deliver a machine because if they do they have 2 men who can produce the goods and a pitwall which showed many times that it is one of the best when it comes to the operational side of things as well as strategy, something which could be key. Button has shown this trait as well and his smooth driving style could pay dividends with the Pirelli tyres. Hamilton could revel in the more flexible strategies with his overtaking skills and showed how to put KERS to good use in 2009. A big year lies ahead for the Woking team...

Images courtesy of www.mclaren.com

Getting to know Paul di Resta

He's the new Scottish star of Formula 1 but Paul di Resta hasn't taken the conventional route to take a drive in the sport with Force India...

After plenty of karting as a youngster, Formula Renault was the first experience of open wheel racing for the man from West Lothian in 2002. Three years later the step up to F3 followed and he would also win the McLaren Autosport BRDC young driver of the year award. A great achievement and one which gave him the opportunity to test a McLaren F1 car. Plenty is made of him beating Sebastian Vettel in F3 in 2006 and certainly that showed that he had good potential. It should be noted however that Vettel also had commitments in 2 other series, including test driver for BMW in Formula 1.

However di Resta's career would take an unusual turn as he ended up driving in DTM in 2007 for Mercedes. This is basically the German equivalent of the British Touring Car Championship in the UK. On paper it is a strange move to make for someone who wants to get into Formula 1. Former Grand Prix winner David Coulthard has described the two series as very different in driving style. What has proved beneficial for di Resta is the building of a relationship with Mercedes. Customer of the German company Force India allowed the 24 year old to gain some experience in 2010 by being the teams reserve driver. He travelled to all the races with the team and took part in 8 practice sessions. He drove at a competitive pace and didn't suffer any major dramas and generally impressed.



Now he steps up to the true test of a race seat. Losing out is Vitantonio Liuzzi. The Italian had a deal with the team but has been replaced after a difficult seat. It's been the story of his career, flashes of brilliance but often flattering to deceive. Certainly he had some car issues at times but also made errors and was regularly outpaced by Adrian Sutil. His F1 career is now on the brink and he will find it difficult to find a new seat. Can di Resta shine where Liuzzi didn't? Time will tell but i believe that pace wise he can be close to Sutil, it will be how good his racecraft is which will be the major test.

Image courtesy of http://www.forceindiaf1.com

Who is Narain Karthikeyan?

He's just announced that he is driving for Hispania Racing in 2011 but just who is Narain Karthikeyan...

He turns 34 next week and is back in a race seat 6 years after his one and only season with Jordan. It was a largely frustrating year in an uncompetitive car, the Indian only scoring at the USA grand prix where only 6 cars took the start. Indeed he was outspoken about the quality of the car and ended up having a war of words with Colin Kolles who will now manage him at Hispania. The season would end with a heavy crash in Shanghai.



A test driver role with Williams followed but Karthikeyan's turned to A1GP after that. The emergence of Force India offered hope but he was unable to secure a drive with Vijay Mallya's team. He was scheduled to drive for a Colin Kolles entered team in the Le Mans 24 hour race in 2009 but a shoulder injury ruled him out at short notice. Late last year he had a day in the Force India simulator. It was reported that he was a second slower than the times set by fellow countryman Karun Chandhok. It appears that Force India were trying to get a Indian driver involved in the team, especially with the Grand Prix happening in New Delhi this October. However it appears Karthikeyan did not have the pace to earn a seat.

What he does seem to have is massive backing from the Tata group. They may also be a help to Hispania technically as well as financially with some of the resources that they have. Indeed they have a computer company which can run computer fluid dynamic programmes but they have an exclusive contract with Force India. However money ruled the decision making process at Hispania in 2010 and appears to me again this season. This issue could become even greater after the owner of the team José Ramón Carabante was ordered to pay 35m Euros by a Spanish court yesterday.

Karthikeyan gets another chance to show what he can do in a F1 car and if he can survive to October will race in the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. With doubts over his ability and the development of Hispania's 2011 car shrouded in mystery you do have to wonder if his weekends will consist of being lapped or even battling the 107% rule on Saturday afternoon's.

Legard to stay or go at BBC?

Having shown Formula 1 in the UK for over 20 years before losing the rights to ITV, many were pleased when the corporation regained the license to show the sport. Two seasons into this new era and the BBC coverage has been widely hailed by viewers as successful. Jake Humphrey has impressed with his presentation and enthusiasm for the role of leading the coverage. Eddie Jordan's antics in the pitlane have both annoyed and entertained fans whilst David Coulthard has got used to commenting on the drivers rather than be on track after his retirement. Ted Kravitz has continued with his role from the ITV days and Lee McKenzie looks after interviews, as well as doing features and even hosting in Japan this year.

In the commentary box, there is Jonathan Legard and Martin Brundle. From his retirement from F1 driving, Brundle has been a commentator and has been applauded for his excellence in the role with plaudits and awards. However the role of lead commentator has been the main media position to provoke debate amongst Formula 1 fans. After the departure of Murray Walker in 2001, James Allen stepped up from pitlane reporter to fill the breach. He would do the job for 7 years but come under fire from many as annoying to listen to and also for being too pro-British, particularly when Lewis Hamilton hit the scene. I felt Allen did a good job personally, he toned down his over enthusiastic character in his early years and whilst he did overdo things in regards to putting emphasis on what Hamilton was doing in the races, this was because the producers of the ITV F1 coverage wanted him to. Allen blogs regularly and still goes to many races and certainly has shown that he can have a neutral standpoint.

Jonathan Legard used to be the Formula 1 main correspondent for BBC Radio before moving onto covering Football. He then left that position to take the TV commentary position. It was a difficult opening period as he struggled to gel with Brundle and came under criticism for his repetitive nature. I do feel he was greatly improved this season and was better. He still had some issues, interrupting Brundle and getting his wires crossed with his commentating partner but in general i felt he improved. It's not an easy job calling a long and strategic grand prix and i feel some of the words aimed in his direction have been unnecessary. His blog and tweets are very insightful and he seems to have very good relationships with many people in the paddock. So his commentary may not be perfect but he does have strengths elsewhere.

Rumours have been constant without any concrete information. A few months back, reports were that Legard could face the axe at the end of the season with claims that Brundle was unhappy with the partnership. Then Legard tweeted about how he had been at a charity lunch for the Mechanics trust which would be featured on the 2011 BBC coverage which suggested he may be staying on. However this was counteracted by a claim that he had not been part of the filming. Then this morning some people were claiming that Legard was not having his contract (which expires at the end of the year reportedly) renewed. I tried to investigate these latest rumours earlier and all i could get was someone who claimed they had it from a 'second hand source' that Legard was definitely out and the search for a replacement was on.

If Legard does find himself out of the job, then several names will be in the running. As mentioned before, James Allen has previous experience of the role. Ben Edwards used to commentate for Eurosport and the now defunct digital F1 channel. He currently does BTCC commentary. Charlie Cox has been linked with the position and is believed to be good friends with Brundle but i'd be very surprised if he made the move from MotoGP to F1. David Croft could move up from radio but that would mean another recruitment search for the BBC.

All in all, it has been an excellent effort by the BBC with Formula 1. Ratings have been fantastic, many people have been drawn to the sport and things like the post race forum have provided extra analysis and insight into the sport. ITV did raise the bar with their coverage but the BBC have taken things to a whole new level. Whether Jonathan Legard remains with them on their successful journey for the 2011 installment remains to be seen. Many want him out but remember this man has been with the BBC for many years. The decision makers in this process will not decide to replace him without serious thought but certainly it is a situation to keep an eye on.

The F1 Christmas Selection Box

As the off season continues, here's some videos and pictures to hopefully amuse you through the winter break. Thanks to anyone who suggested or contributed content. Enjoy!