Hungarian Splash

OK I have to confess, I did watch the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend. Now look. What else would you have me do whilst having my dinner in front of the telly that night? Watch Oprah? No bloody way. I'd already watched Snatch countless of times before so dinner entertainment would have to be the race. Of course I expected to switch off once I finished my meal given that its Hungary. Surprisingly, the race was actually quite a fun one to watch.

Reading the comments on PlanetF1 after the race, I was quite surprised to see that many people thought the Jense was merely lucky to have won the event. The argument goes that the big three Raikkonen, Alonso and Schumi all retired and thats the only way he could have won. Are these fools on crack or something? Perhaps they too think that vibrating wing mirrors give some sort of unfair aero advantage.

For starters, Raikkonen could hardly keep his own teammate and eventual runner up from catching him. How on Earth would he have finished ahead of Jenson at the finish is beyond me. And Michael? Hmmm.... alright blame the Bridgestone rubber for his snail's pace at the start, putting paid to his chances overall. But before he retired, hadn't he already been passed by both de la Rosa and Heidfeld? Yes, Alonso lost his nut but he was inexorably being caught by Jenson before his stop. I doubt if he could do anything to keep the Briton behind. Come on people, I'm not a big Jenson fan but he absolutely deserved this win.

Michael Schumacher's first incident at the chicane involving Pedro de la Rosa was clearly another case of cheating from the multi world champion. He did gain an advantage by cutting right across the chicane but instead of yielding the position to de la Rosa, he elected to cover his line and continue on his merry way. All this when it was clear that de la Rosa had the inside line on the entry and was poised to rob the German of his position.

Never mind that Pedro eventually succeeded in passing him. Pedro need not have to go on taking risks when the position was already rightfully his. Never mind that Michael then failed in his attempt to keep Nick Heidfeld at bay and had his suspension tagged beyond repair. He should have been docked his one point because not for the first time this season has Das Prick flaunted the regulations deliberately.

Putting all this aside now, one could hardly fail to notice just how poor those Bridgestone tyres are in the wet. I'm pretty sure everyone on those tyres had at one point or another a spin or two. Even the so-called "Regenmeister" Schumacher. Well, it was pretty damned wet in Donington 1993 too but I remember the winner kept it all together quite nicely..... I remain unconvinced of Michael's ultimate ability in the wet. Good? Of course. Better than all of the current crop for sure. But Rain Master? No. Not quite.

All in all quite entertaining and its always good to welcome someone else into the winner's circle.

Monaco GP

No one expects any overtaking to happen on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo. Given that lack of expectation, one could then simply enjoy the race which was in fact quite exciting to watch. Or at least until Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber retired. Up until then, they were giving the world champion a helluva run for his money. I think if Michael were in the mix today, he could have taken all of them.

Its funny this circuit. You watch cars following one another nose to tail and it seems that even on the faster bits of the circuit through the tunnel, later on at Tabac and the swimming pool, the cars seem to have no problems at all following the car in front. At some stages Kimi Raikkonen looked like he would crash into Fernando Alonso's gearbox. I suspect that had this been a touring car race, some nudging would not go amiss. But the fragile wings and bodywork of a Formula 1 car simply would not do.

I'm not sure why that is. Perhaps because on this circuit the wings are set at their maximum angles and somehow are not so sensitive to the dirty air in the wake of another car. Perhaps the turns are simply too slow to create much turbulence in the first place. But I couldn't help but feel that if the circuit were just a little bit wider, there would be more of the brake locking tyre smoking lunges that Giancarlo Fisichella and Michael Schumacher made during the course of their progress. But then again, if the circuit were any wider the turns would be faster and there goes the aero once more.

Starting on pole with Michael nowhere near him, you felt it was always going to be Alonso's race. But Kimi I thought had a definite chance of winning had that safety car not come out. As Dennis would say in the McLaren press release, he had more fuel in the tanks than Alonso did. A lot more.

Praise must also go to Mark Webber for driving a brilliant race. He too was going very quickly and fully deserved at least a podium spot. David Coulthard I thought drove solidly but was hampered by the mobile road block named Rubens Barrichello. Later on his speed was not very apparent as the Red Bull team had switched him from a two stop strategy to just a single stop and he was carrying a lot of fuel. Had he been able to execute the two stop strategy I'd bet he would have been right up there with Montoya at least if not kissing the gearbox of Mark Webber.

Sneaky Schumi in fact drove a faultless race and ended up quite a brilliant fifth despite starting at the very back on a circuit with few overtaking options. Jenson Button in fact wilted under Scumi's pressure and had to give way. But his teammate Rubens, still smarting from last year, would give Michael no room at all. But Michael's speed today was undeniable. His fastest lap way faster than that of Kimi Raikkonen's.

As I said, given the lack of expectation of any overtaking, watching the traffic jams in Monaco was actually fun. Witness David Coulthard for instance who was simply all over the place trying to keep Michael behind him in the middle of the race. Limited opportunities perhaps but a driver still needs to keep the line covered just in case.

Strategy is everything on these streets. And it would have been interesting to have seen how it would all pan out after the second stops. In the end, reliability won the day for Alonso. This level of completeness, the blend of speed, tactics and reliability (and now it seems, fair play) from Alonso and the Renault team are what will win Alonso the championship for the second time.

Spanish Grand Prix

Whilst I was quite thankful it wasn't yet another Maranello victory, nevertheless I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that this was a terribly boring race today. What is it about these Tilke tracks that make them such a bore? Never mind the slow speed, hairpin infested Shanghai. Here we have a high speed track and yet its still notoriously difficult to overtake on.

As Michael Schumacher would say in the post race interview, the race was really won on the first stint. Fernando Alonso was simply running away in front leaving all else including his teammate for dead. It was these initial 17 laps that won the race for Fernando. Essentially the Spaniard ran almost the exact strategy as he did at the Nurburgring. Lighter fuel load but put the car on pole and try to run away with it.

In contrast to a week ago however, this time it worked really well. The lighter load enabling Fernando to put in a very solid first stint where he was able to pull out a 10 second gap of Fisi and 12 seconds over Michael before pitting in. Significantly also, once refueled he was able to keep pace with Michael after his stop. Somehow, Michael could not hook up his car enough in those extra laps before his diving into the pits. He was only slightly quicker than Alonso, the gap in lap times measured in tenths. At the Nurburgring, Michael was at least 1 second or more faster than Alonso before the pitstops.

In the second stint, all Fernando did was simply maintain a 10 second gap and put the hammer down at precisely the right time before refueling. Try as he might but Michael couldn't do anything about it. As Pat Symonds would say after the race, the Renault was simply too quick for anyone else. Or at least in Fernando's hands.

Traffic was always going to be a problem here given overtaking difficulties. Not helped by some backmarkers who are most notoriously difficult to pass. The two Midlands are very much guilty of this. First it was Albers refusing to get out of Alonso's way, then it was the turn of his teammate Tiago Monteiro running in close company. I can't believe people voted this idiot as rookie of the year last year. He has a bloody bad habit of getting into people's way when he's about to be lapped. It just shows either bloody mindedness or sheer incompetence through a lack of awareness on his part. I think its both. Like the whole Midland team and Alex Shnaider, he is a bloody waste of time.

Also suffering brain fade today was Ralf Schumacher. I mean, what was he thinking? He was miles behind Trulli and rather clumsily attempted an outbraking manuver, locking his brakes in the process and clipping Trullis tyres with his wing. It must have done a lot more damage for the hapless younger Schumacher retired after that. And just what is going on with Juan Pablo these days? He is not helping his cause for next year by committing mistakes like that. As if to shout his shortcomings, Juan Pablo suffered the ignominy of being beached on the kerbs, rear wheels spinning away uselessly.

Just as in 2005, there are really only two teams with any hope of the championship this year. The rest of the field were simply at sea. Just look at poor Raikkonen, almost a minute behind. Jenson Button keeping him company whilst Rubens Barrichello despite improving his own performance in the Honda was lapped by Fernando. The rest of the field long gone with no chance. Villeneuve strating at the back of the grid, was lapped before even making his first and only pitstop.

What a difference 12 months makes. A year ago it was Kimi that was in front showing Fernando how its done. This year he finishes a distant fifth in a car that simply and utterly did not have any pace at all. Honda has clearly been exposed as a pretender with not much substance. They did some sparkling lap times over the winter on this very circuit but it was very much a flash in the pan result done on vapour.

I think the result in Barcelona does show that Renault and Ferrari are quite evenly matched. It would seem that Ferrari are quicker on the tighter, more technical circuits whereas Renault are faster on the high speed circuits. Also, it could also be tyres at work here. Track tempratures reached 41 degrees in Catalunya and perhaps the Michelins have the advantage. Thankfully, the coming races have a mixture of fast and slow circuits and it will be interesting to see how the pendulum swings between both the leading teams.

Since there was not much else to comment on in terms of race action, I'd like to point out just how quick these 2.4 V8 cars are. A quick look at the fastest lap times in Barcelona over the years will illustrate this.

2006 - Filipe Massa, Ferrari 1m 16.648s
2005 - Giancarlo Fisichella 1m 15.641s
2004 - Michael Schumacher 1m 17.450s

Despite a loss of about 200 bhp and a much greater percentage lost in torque, the V8s are a only second slower than last year's V10 powered cars. You might say that the gap would have been greater since in 2005 tyre changes were banned. But then you look at 2004 lap times and you see that the V8s are almost a second quicker. And remember in 2004, the aero rules weren't quite as restrictive as the current spec cars. The wings are higher, the diffusers are smaller in size and despite having significantly less power, the cars this year are lapping faster. This time next year, Fisi's 2005 lap record will probably be overtaken. Thats the pace of development in this sport. Amazing.

One can also put to rest the argument over the V10s in the Squadra Toro Rosso cars having some sort of an advantage. Take a look at the lap times below.

2006 Vitantonio Liuzzi, STR 1m 18.488s
2005 David Coulthard Red Bull RB1 1m 16.947s (Slower than Filipe's time this year!)

Given that everyone else is a second or more slower this year than they were last year, it seems that the equivalency rules have worked quite well. At least in the high speed circuits. I'm still betting that in the next race in Monaco the torque of the V10 will tell. Just how well it will do I don't know for sure but here's a chance for Scott Speed to make it into the second round of qualifying!

One thing this race highlights is the fact that Renault are going to need someone very special to replace Fernando next year. I mean, just look at Giancarlo. Despite putting his car on the front row, he finished 23 seconds behind his teammate. Plus he put his car in the kitty litter losing him around 6 seconds on that lao. He is not the man to be leading Renault's championship challenge. If he were the leading Renault driver, the championship would definitely be in Michael Schumacher's hands for sure. Fernando is definitely a class act.

Euro GP

Well, well. So the Great Ferrari Fightback is well and truly on it would seem. The way Michael Schumacher won the race was fairly copybooks stuff, something we've grown accustomed to over the years. When the opposition dives into the pits (first naturally), the German would still be out, pounding the circuit and setting fastest lap after fastest lap. Effectively overtaking in the pits since doing it on the circuit is not only difficult but risky too. Still, like the man he beat, Michael is a driver you can depend on to deliver when it truly matters. When Ross says go, Michael Schumacher is like a heat seeking missile, and a fantastic sight to behold.

It was a great battle of course between Fernando and Michael but given the way the Ferraris had been going all weekend, you would have guessed that no one else stood a chance. In Imola, one could argue that it was a tactical mistake by Renault that cost them the race but at the Nurburgring, no amount of tactical prowess could save them.

Michael has a lot to thank for his teammate. Filipe did much of the hard work on Friday and in the process using up his own tyres to his own detriment, meant that Michael had plenty of brand new sets of tyres left for the race. Crucially, he had one more than Fernando Alonso. Its funny how a brand new set of tyres means so much in the race nowadays, as Fernando himself demonstrated at Imola two weeks ago. However, at the Ring, Renault placed huge emphasis on getting the pole position and in the process, using an extra set of brand new tyres. Still you wonder about these tyres. I remember a couple of years back, there were races where Michael would go out on scrubbed sets which worked better in fact. This year, brand new tyres are a must.

But really, whichever way Fernando Alonso went, he couldn't do much against a man whose entire team is dedicated to his own glory. Of course, Ferrari themselves couldn't give a damn on whether this is right or wrong. They want the world championship and Michael is clearly the favourite and is the best choice in the team to do so. So, just as Eddie Irvine and Rubens Barrichello were sacrificed for the greater good of Maranello, now its Filipe's turn. Quite why a racing driver or any sports person would volunteer to do so is simply beyond me. Sure, Renault or any other team could follow the same game plan, but somehow to my mind it just doesn't feel right.

But its a strategy thats worked for Michael and his team and really is a carry over from the days when he, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne were at Benetton. One could argue that in those days the situation was even worse. The car was built to suit Michael's style and screw whoever else was doing driving duties. At Maranello at least they have the resources to give the second driver at least a car he's comfortable with.

And indeed, Filipe did well to bring the car home in third and on the podium. He could have done worse. In fact he could have done a Giancarlo Fisichella. Fisi may argue that Jacques Villeneuve held him up and in fact the Villeneuve did. But going up to him and berating him in public was like watching the idiot blaming the moron for his own mistake. The fact of the matter is, he did have the opportunity to do a quick lap prior to that but it just wasn't quick enough. The fault dear Fisi lies not with the waning star but with yourself. Having said that Jacques too could have moved out of the way. I'm not surprised if both these drivers are out of their teams at the end of the season and possibly both of them on their way out of Formula 1.

Despite a good turn of speed at the end, Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren simply didn't have the legs of the Renault and Ferraris up front. He may have ended up with second fastest lap of the race but in truth, the pace of the McLaren was very erratic even given its fuel heavy strategy. In the first stint, the leading four were all lapping in the 1m 33s bracket but significantly, Kimi's laps were always that little bit slower. Mere tenths but still very significant over an entire stint. Also, it did not seem to me that the McLaren had any consistent pace. On some laps Kimi would keep pace and on others he was simply at sea. But at least he comprehensively outpaced his teammate who ran a one stop strategy that never seemed to quite work out.

Everyone else were simply nowhere. Great mid field battle though with cars from fifth to twelfth running nose to tail, but alas overtaking is mighty difficult. A lot of commentators would say its due to the circuit and yes I'd agree. Its another Tilke horror. But really there are places to overtake but the aero on the cars are simply not up to the job.

Nico Rosberg's driving this weekend was very impressive given the machinery he had to work with. But I cannot for the life of me fathom why Williams decided to go for two short stints after the extra long first one got them as high as fifth. Once Nico came out again, the others in the pack dived in again not long after. And he was back in fifth. But then they pulled him in again. I mean, why mess with a strategy that had worked so well? Funny times at Williams. They've been out of the winners circle so long that they are starting to act like a typical midfield runner. Mark Webber in the meantime must be seething with yet another failure. I'm not so sure he'd turn down a Renault offer should it come to him. And I have a feeling he would make better use of the opportunity than Fisichella. Williams is a proud team with a tradition for excellence. But I have a bad feeling about them right now. I sincerely hope they don't go down the path of Lotus or Tyrell.

I think the rest of the season will really be about Michael vs. Fernando and at the moment its advantage Michael and Ferrari. He will be doing what Kimi did last season and that is chase the Spaniard all summer. However, its possible to say that Michael has the advantage of having a reliable car beneath him. And that will make all the difference. Despite what the ITV commentators have to say, I think its going to be very difficult for Fernando and Renault to pull level in terms of development. And of course now that the tyre regulations are back to what they were, Bridgestone are having a much easier time. Expect Michael to win a string of races in the summer and eventually overhauling Fernando, to the delight of everyone who will once again praise his brilliance and that of his team. Oh and the supposedly loyal tifosi, conspicuously absent last year will be back in Monza this time round.

San Marino GP

He who blinks first loses. I would've thought that lesson would have been learnt time and again by the teams. Ferrari is back in the winner's circle once again but it was a close run thing. In fact, it was more of a case of Renault losing than Ferrari winning in this case.

Interestingly, the shape of the race today had very much to do with certain choices made yesterday during qualy. Michael Schumacher used up all his sets of tyres except the set he started the race on. By contrast, Fernando was saving a few sets of brand new tyres for the race. This was a risky strategy for qualifying but in the end starting from fifth wasn't all that bad. Plus, everyone suspected he was carrying a heavier fuel load than the rest. It was just a question of how much more.

I remarked yesterday that the drivers all covered a high number of laps during qualifying. The top ten drivers doing at least 20 laps or more and in the process using up their tyres for the race. Still, they have plenty of sets and the load I would have thought would be spread evenly through all of them. That means that each set would on average be doing 6 or 7 laps during qualy. Surely those extra laps would not mean so much in the race... but it turns out that having brand new rubber is crucial in the race. I'm not sure if its just for Imola or for other circuits as well. Fernando having brand new rubber after his stops meant an average of 1 to 2 seconds advantage over Michael with his qualy-worn tyres. Thats how he was able to close up to Michael in a flash after the first round of stops.

And after all that good strategy in qualifying, some twit, probably Pat Symonds, threw it all away by calling in Fernando before Michael had made his second stop. Could I have done better? Well, I think in this case, hell yeah. At a circuit thats impossible to overtake you've got to do it in the pits. The only way to ensure that would have been to keep Fernando out for much longer in a much quicker car and build the lead. Pat Symonds or whoever it was made a bad call. Fernando was fueled for a much longer stint and he had all the time in the world to put the hammer down once Michael made his final stop.

By contrast, the master Ross Brawn made an absolutely brilliant call. Perhaps sensing the activity in the Renault pit, he must have told Herr Schumacher to speed up as much as he could. In fact on the lap that Fernando came in, Michael did a high 1m 26s after lingering in the 1m 28s and 1m 27s in the previous laps. And he must have wrung that Ferrari all the way on the following lap before coming in as per Ross' orders. It was enough and kept him ahead of the Renault when he came back out. Game over despite Fernando's out lap being faster than Michael's by more than a second. Fernando must have lost some time in the pits as well.

Jenson Button was catching the leading pair prior to the final stops and some including the ITV commentators felt that he could have played a part in the battle for the lead had he not had that disastrous pitstop. That may have been so but its also telling that once again the Honda's pace in the race simply could not match their qualifying performances. In clear air for instance, Fernando Alonso was able to get down to the 1m 24s. After the second stop, Jenson Button could hardly break the 1m 26s barrier. In fact after the first round of stops had been done, Jenson found himself some 17 seconds behind Michael despite having been only a couple of seconds behind before his first stop. Teammate Rubens Barrichello fared even worse, managing to do only 1m 27s laps and ending up in tenth at the end. The only reason for Jenson being able to keep up with Michael early on was because the Honda was carrying a hell of a lot less fuel on board as evidenced by their earlier stop.

The McLarens simply couldn't live with the pace of the Renault and Ferrari up front but I thought both of them drove quite solidly. Juan Montoya was a little under pressure from Filipe towards the end but on this track it really didn't matter. There's just no way past. Still he managed a podium in a t-car ahead of his teammate. Thats got to count for something.

Speaking of Filipe Massa, we should now truly welcome him to the Scuderia or should I say, Team Schumacher. It was so obvious once Jenson Button had pit in for his first stop and Michael was clear, Filipe slowed down almost to a crawl. Where he once did 1m 25s lap he now did 1m 27s laps and clearly holding up Fernando Alonso behind him. I guess Ferrari were worried even at that stage that despite a heavily loaded Renault underneath the Spaniard Michael was not able to leave him as quickly as he would have liked. And so, they did what they've always done. Screw the second driver to let Schumacher ahead. Pants down Filipe and bend over please. We'll have none of the Malaysian GP shenanigans from you young man.

Still Michelin should be well satisfied. Their tyres were actually the ones to have on a circuit that traditionally favours the Bridgestone rubber. The Great Ferrari Fightback? On paper at least. But ominously, Fernando Alonso is proving quick and in terms of raw pace, nigh unbeatable at every venue so far this season. The rest have a lot to do. Including his teammate whose raw pace once again was nowhere near that of his own despite using a newer spec engine. Today perhaps we've seen two of the best Formula 1 drivers of the current crop battling it out in what was a great strategic battle.

San Marino GP Qualy

After eighteen months and some false starts, at last we see The Great Ferrari Fightback in full swing. And in good time too. There have been some distressed and disillusioned tifosi around (no names mentioned) and this result should put the smile back on Ferrari fans worldwide. It is a crucial time for Ferrari despite what their management would have you believe but at least they are delivering.

Michael Schumacher put his scarlet machine on pole for the second time this year and finally taking Ayrton Senna's record of 65 pole positions. Took him long enough. 15 seasons more or less versus 10 for the Brazilian. Given that history books mostly focus on absolutes and the top performances, there goes statistical evidence of the great Brazilian's outright speed. Oh well, it had to go sometime and at least it goes to the man whom I believe emulates Senna more than any other in the current crop of grand prix drivers. Right down to the argy bargy when times call for it.

The Ferraris are looking very good here this weekend underlined by their pace in qualy and in free practise. Its a surprise for Renault though today. Fernando Alonso's best time was set in the first qualy session (on vapour) and its about a second slower than Michael's time. Funny given how competitive he looked in practise. Another bit of surprise was Jenson Button who set his quickest lap in qualifying in the third session where the cars have some semblance of race fuel on board. Same goes for his rejuvenated and much more competitive teammate Rubens Barrichello. Are the Hondas running light this weekend? Is Michael Schumacher doing the same?

Another thing to note about qualifying these days is the sheer number of laps the drivers put in. A look at the lap charts reveal that Michael put in a total of 22 laps in total over the three sessions. Mark Webber, who managed to qualify in 10th put in a massive 27 laps. All in the top 10 put in a total of at least 20 laps or more. No doubt of course this has a lot to do with the pointless third session where the cars run in fuel burn mode early on in the session. Still though, in the first two sessions drivers are still putting in a lot of laps.

Again, we have a disappointing Giancarlo Fisichella. Despite getting the B-spec Renault RS26 motor this weekend, he failed to make it into the top 10. This is bad for the Roman. All bad despite winning in Malaysia, I would be very surprised if he can retain his seat next year at Regie if keeps going on like this. His teammate, running the A-spec engine and into its second race now has been whipping him all weekend.

The wunderkind Nico Rosberg yet again fails to make the cut into the top 10 after being comprehensively beaten by teammate Mark Webber. Although having said that the quickest times in qualy are not that far apart between the two. Its just that the midfield are so damned close together that a 0.2 second gap can make all the difference. Its a pressure cooker in the midfield.

The McLarens have not been looking good all weekend during practise but in fact Kimi Raikkonen still managed third best time over all the three qualifying sessions, set in session 2. This is still 0.6s slower than Michael Schumacher's 1m 22.579s set in the same session. Funnily enough Juan Pablo Montoya managed to qualify ahead of the Finn for tomorrow's race although his best lap time of 1m 23.760s set in session 2 is 0.6 seconds slower than his teammate. All this despite the fact he's having to qualify in the t-car after a fuel feed problem with his regular mount.

I hate this current qualifying format because of the fuel factor you really can't tell the ultimate pace of the cars. I really wish they'd just go back to the old way of doing 12 banzai laps on low fuel so we'd all know whats going on in terms of pace.

I have a feeling there are vastly different strategies between the teams but I do know that Ferrari are definitely on form for a win this weekend. Their Melbourne weekend was hampered by tyre troubles no thanks to the bad weather in testing in the week prior to the Australian Grand Prix. The team were unable to test the latest Bridgestones and they paid for it. In Malaysia, they were hampered by engine troubles. Looks like in this weekend they've got everything down pat on a circuit where the Bridgestone tyres are the rubber to have.

With that I'll leave with the quickest times in qualy this weekend:

1. Michael Schumacher - 1m 22.579s (Session 2)
2. Jenson Button - 1m 22.988s (Session 3)
3. Kimi Raikkonen - 1m 23.190s (Session 2)
4. Rubens Barrichello - 1m 23.242s (Session 3)
5. Fernando Alonso - 1m 23.536s (Session 1)
6. Ralf Schumacher - 1m 23.565s (Session 2)
7. Filipe Massa - 1m 23.595s (Session 2)
8. Mark Webber - 1m 23.718s (Session 2)
9. Jarno Trulli - 1m 23.727s (Session 2)
10. Juan Pablo Montoya - 1m 23.760s (Session 2)
11. Giancarlo Fisichella - 1m 23.771s (Session 2)
12. Jacques Villeneuve - 1m 23.887s (Session 2)
13. Nico Rosberg - 1m 23.966s (Session 2)
14. David Coulthard - 1m 24.101s (Session 2)
15. Nick Heidfled - 1m 24.129s (Session 2)
16. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 1m 24.520 (Session 2)

And a big congrats to Herr Schumacher on setting yet another record in Formula 1

Australian Grand Prix

An incident packed race brought about in no small part by the cool tempratures in Albert Park. I noticed prior to the race that the track surface seemed very slippery. And so it proved even at the start of the race on the warm up.

There's no doubting the world champion's pace this weekend. But perhaps, he should thank the Midland drivers for the victory. Kimi Raikkonen's race was hampered by a vibration from a flat spotted tyre that led to him losing his front end plates. Once replaced, Kimi set a blistering pace towards the end. At the final safety car period, he lost 5 seconds getting stuck behind the Midland of Monteiro. Had he been right behind Alonso, I would have thought he would be battling the world champion right till the end.

Still, props to Alonso for realising that the Midlands would delay the pursuit behind him and duly got the drop on them the moment the safety car dived into the pits. And of course you can't fault him for superb pace throughout the race. In fact, had there been no safety car period his margin of victory over Kimi might have been considerably larger than what it was at the end.

Perhaps it would have been wiser for Kimi to have saved his engine towards the end instead of attempting a futile attempt to catch Fernando. Or perhaps he was just trying to keep the Spaniard honest.

And how about that Taku? He did a great job at the start of the race making 12th and holding up Rubens Barrichello in the works Honda behind him. I'd say that deserves a mention here. Barrichello is having a torrid time here but its all rather mysterious. Just how can he be so slow in relation to his teammate. Even the infamous Taku was a lot closer than this.

Mysterious indeed was Ferrari's pace this weekend. At the early stage, Michael couldn't even resist the Toro Rossos. Vitantonio Liuzzi managing to find a way past the 7 time world champion. At that stage Alonso was happily lapping in the 1m 27s bracket whereas Michael was plodding on in the 1m 29s. Prior to his stop, he was then down into the 1m 27s and was up to fourth at one stage. After his stop, he was definitely catching Kimi at a tremendous rate of knots. However, you could tell that Michael was on the ragged edge. If I had to guess, I'd say that he was pushing the car way beyond its capabilities and he got caught out, slamming into the wall on lap 33.

Speaking of the Toro Rossos it was fantastic to seem them ahead of the "main" team. Scott Speed managing a points placing ahead of David Coulthard. I say, David, perhaps you should be worried about being replaced by Juan Pablo Montoya next year. Still, as Martin Brundle was saying, the Toro Rossos were so good at trying to appear to be slower than the rest that they ran into problems which only just have been sorted out. Today was the pace you would expect from them.

Giancarlo Fisichella got a very public and humiliating earful from his race engineer this weekend. Same car, same tyres, same strategy and he's more than a second slower. Of course the team would be irritated. In the end even Flavio had to get on the horn to tell him to just get on with the driving. I have a suspicion that despite the win last weekend, Renault is fast losing patience with Fisi. Its very surprising because here's the man who has destroyed his previous teammates and that list includes Heidfeld, Button and Ralf Schumacher.

Speaking of Ralf, it was a job well done by him and Toyota to get onto the podium ahead of the much fancied Jenson Button in the Honda. The folks in Japan must have been pleased. All this despite having to come into the pits for a penalty due to speeding in the pitlane. Of course, fortuitously, they were aided by the safety car periods.

Moving on to Jenson, his lack of pace is also surprising. It seems that he just didn't have the confidence to push his car. The low tempratures meant that everyone was having trouble with getting enough heat into the tyres. Nick Heidfeld noticeably having to weave on the straights after each restart to get the tyres up to temprature again.

Clearly though, the Honda team have a lot of work to do on the car. The race pace simply isn't there. So too, do Ferrari if they are to have any hope of seriously challenging for the world title. Irritatingly though, Ferrari are still third in the constructors and Michael still third in the driver's chase. All this despite both cars crashing out today.

It looks very much a Kimi vs Alonso battle for the championship at this stage. However, Alonso is having a great start to the season as he did last year. Whats more his driving and the car underneath him of course is an absolutely robust, dependable and solid performer. Not to mention, incredible consistent in its pace. It will be a hard pursuit.

Australian GP Qualifying

Once again, the qualy results this year have pretty much followed the script set in winter testing. Jenson Button is on pole and one wonders whether this is finally his time to take the top step of the podium. Friday practice saw Anthony Davidson set the pace but these Hondas are usually quick in practice but are unable to keep pace with Regie in the race. Still, Jenson's pole is some 0.4 seconds quicker than Fisichella's time.

Giancarlo Fisichella is looking fresh from his Malaysian GP win will start alongside Button on the front row. Surprisingly this is Fernando Alonso's best qualifying result this year. This time though, he wasn't hampered by fuelling problems. It should be interesting to see if Alonso will be given the "overtake" signal in the race.

Ron Dennis is convinced that his cars are fueled longer than the folks in front of Kimi and Montoya. We'll see about that. I think only strategy will be able to win it for McLaren. However, the folks at Renault are no fools. Somehow I think they'll struggle to live with the folks in front. A repeat of Malaysia is at hand, though I admit the McLarens are much closer to the Renaults this time. Its going to be tough.

Nice to see both Toyotas in the top ten. Ralf Schumacher leading Trulli although the Italian's machine has some gremlins in the electrical bits.

But what about those Ferraris? As you know, I loathe these guys but I am very surprised to see Michael Schumacher being unable to make the cut. His best lap is some 1.5 seconds out from Jenson Button's time. Now that is a big surprise given that Albert Park has always been kind to the team. Michael Schumacher admits to being rather mystified by all this although I was quite amused to hear that he drove off with the cooling fan still attached in the radiators in the second session which was rather hectic after Filipe's off.

Best Bridgestone runner? That'll be the Toyota. Mark Webber being the next best runner. I really wonder what the problem is with the Ferrari now. I suspect they'll do well to catch the Toyotas in front this weekend. Whatever it is, it could be back to the drawing board.

Nico Rosberg also failed to make the final cut. Perhaps his young age is showing but he was evidently overdriving his Williams. He's been off the pace all weekend. I was very surprised indeed to see him staying in the pits on Friday's first practice. One would have thought he'd be out pounding the car and learning the circuit.

Poor Rubens. Now back in a team where he can get equal treatment but he's not making the best of it. Blocked by the hapless Yuji Ide during his run, he failed to make it to the second session. Thats three races now he's been absolutely annihiliated by his teammate. Its not going to do his morale any good. Still, its a new environment and a new car. One would have thought though that he'd fit in a lot better than this.

Should be a good race tomorrow though I'm not sure if we'll see much overtaking on the road. We didn't see much of that last year I think. Jenson Button described the track as a point and squirt sort of deal. Lots of braking in a straight line with no trail braking opportunities around the circuit. Well, he clearly enjoys it.

Malaysian Grand Prix

At the end of last year, I speculated that Renault wouldn't be as strong in 2006 as they had been in 2005 due to the fact that they were late with releasing their V8 engines and also they've had very little experience with V8 racing engines in general. I'm glad to admit that I was totally wrong.

The Renault team in fact has consistently been underrated by many this year. Just look at the various results of internet polls. However, at Sepang, the testing form in winter has proven to be correct. Renault was very much in control and dominated proceeding with only the Honda of Jenson Button being able to keep pace.

If I had thought that Ferrari would be challenging in Sepang after their Bahraini performance, I'm also glad to admit my error there. Yes, I realise Michael Schumacher started from 14th and Filipe Massa shared the back row with Ralf Schumacher. However, if you examine the Ferrari race pace, it is not impressive. Whilst Fisichella, Alonso and Button were consistently lapping in the 1m 35s bracket throughout the race, Michael Schumacher was struggling to beat 1m 36s. The Ferrari team admits that Schumacher's lack of pace is perplexing. Nevertheless, they did not impress as some were hoping.

Fernando Alonso is truly shaping up to be a master class in grand prix racing. Hampered by an overfueled car at the start of the race, his pace towards the end was simply blistering. His fastest lap of 1m 34.8s is faster than Kimi Raikkonen's fastest lap at Sepang in 2005. And Fernando is actually losing 150bhp or so using the RS26 V8 as compared to the ten cylinder Mercedes engine in Kimi's car. Although you could argue that tyres this year are significantly softer than last year's rock hard variety. Still, the man makes very few errors. In fact, he's yet to make any significant ones in the race this year. Last year, he clipped the wall in Montreal and that was basically it.

Quite how one so young can drive so confidently, quickly and consistently defies belief. He's just rock solid quick. Fisichella may have won from pole but he did make a mistake in turn 4 at Sepang towards the end of the race. An unforced error at that since by that stage his teammate had been told to turn down the wick. Still Fisichella's been brilliant though I suspect that had Alonso been correctly fueled he'd be in front at the chequered flag.

Take nothing away from Fisichella, he's had more than his share of bad luck and he deserves this victory. Jenson Button tried hard but in the end simply couldn't live with Fisichella's pace up front. The Honda still hasn't got the race pace to match its stunning performance in free practice.

A pity both Williams retired from the race. Mark Webber was hounding the admittedly heavy Alonso at the early stages. However, I think they definitely had enough pace there to beat Juan Pablo Montoya's McLaren. Nico Rosberg qualified an excellent third on the grid. However, his inexperience tells. Too much wheelspin at the start, Nico probably lost places for both Williams by tussling with Webber going into turn 1. Fernando Alonso quite smartly went round the both of them into turn 1.

All in all, this race was pretty uneventful when compared to last week's race at Sakhir. However, Renault have definitely stamped their authority on this year's championship. Kimi Raikkonen was not around for this race having been tagged by Christian Klein on lap 1. It would have been interesting to see how well he would have gone otherwise. However, the McLaren's pace is still quite suspect.

On to Australia. I expect the cooler tempratures there should favour the Ferrari's Bridgestone rubber as it did in previous years. But don't be surprise if Renault once again comes out on top. They have done a magnificent job once again.

Bahrain Grand Prix

I'm quite certain, as most people might be, that after watching the race in Sakhir that we're in for one heck of a season. Whilst Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso might have looked like they were running away in the lead, in truth the four teams that were expected to feature this year have indeed proven themselves.

At the front, I thought Fernando Alonso drove like a true world champion. In my opinion that Ferrari is still ultimately the quicker car but Fernando drove a faultless race, combined with brilliant pitwork and strategy to win. If this were 1996, Michael Schumacher would definitely have produced the mere tenths needed to take the race lead after Fernando's second pitstop. This is 2006, and I agree with Martin Brundle when he says that Fernando and Kimi both have that slightest of edge to beat Michael in a straight fight. A straight fight it certainly was today and Fernando won fair and square. The 7 time world champion in my view is showing his age. No doubt the basic speed is still there and there will be days this year where that'll be enough to take races. Though I will say that had Michael succeeded in passing Alonso in the pits, he'd have left Alonso.

And what of Kimi? He fought back from dead last to finish on the final step on the podium. You have to hand it to him, had he started from a decent grid slot, it might have been his race. McLaren ran a one stop strategy for Kimi which must have taken its toll on the tyres. Still, the speed is definitely there. After those testing troubles in the winter, the McLaren team must be encouraged. And ye gods, the Mercedes engine actually held. Both of them. Though, Montoya did complain that his engine was down on power.

Down on power also was Fisichella. The man retired with hydraulic failure in the end. His run of Renault bad luck continues on.

Nico Rosberg is definitely going to get a few calls this year after his stunning debut performance. I'll bet if he hadn't needed that front wing change, he would have definitely beaten teammate Mark Webber. Nevertheless, he exhibited an uncommon maturity given his young age and he's one of those drivers who simply adapts very quickly to Formula 1 life. Brilliant driving and brilliant at overtaking as well. You can tell he's fresh from GP2 where overtaking is a way of life. Both Christian Klein and veteran Coulthard got it good from the young Finn / German.

Surprising to me today was Button. The Honda is a quick car and yet Jenson wasn't able to translate that into race challenging form. Better luck next time I hope for Jense. Better luck for Barrichello as well. I still think that the Honda can and will take victories this year.

One team that needs to win but has absolutely no chance is Toyota. They were unlucky not to get a debut victory last season as Spa but looking at their challenger this year, its absolutely hopeless.

Looking forward to my home grand prix next weekend. A Renault team member told me last year that Sepang is an abrasive sort of circuit. Not the cheese grater like Barcelona of course but it does eat up rubber. We should see just how good the Michelin tyres are compared to the Bridgestones. And it should give us a better indication of this season.

Bahrain Qualifying: A Red Day

I still think an unlimited lap or 12 lap qualifying would have been better but this new qualifying system has its moments. The first part was particularly fraught as cars rushed to get their laps in and make it to the second part. Once again Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren succumbed to mechanical failure though this time not because of the accursed Mercedes engine. This time it was a rear lower wishbone failure.


Michael Schumacher has finally equalled Aryton Senna's record. Whilst his lap time were mere hundreds away from teammate Filipe Massa and tenths away from the Honda of Button and Renault of Alonso and Montoya's McLaren, one would have thought that he would he could have gone quicker still. Indeed this was confirmed by tech boss Ross Brawn. According to Brawn they went for a conservative qualy strategy.

What has impressed is the Ferrari's pace all weekend during practice. During the final practice session, the Ferraris and Michael in particular seem to have been able to turn on the speed at will. Whilst Button's Honda made it to the top of the timesheets, nevertheless Button drove twice the number of laps that Michael did. Every time someone did a few laps and went to the top of the timesheets, Michael simply went out and easily blitzed them. An ominous sign for the rest.

The world champion is incorrect in saying that those who had been testing in Bahrain were wasting their time. Its clear the Ferraris have stolen a march on the rest of the field. Well, lets see how those Bridgestones compare with the Micheins in the race today. However, the Ferraris look very impressive to me at this stage. Darn it.

2005 Macau Grand Prix

I managed to catch the highlights of the Macau Grand Prix on Sunday night. For the first time in years, the race was not shown live on Star Sports. The producers at Star deciding to show the action at Sepang instead. Bollocks. Macau has a far longer and prouder tradition and its main feature, the FIA Formula 3 Intercontinental Cup is a very significant event. Just ask former winner Michael Schumacher. In any case, this year's Guia race for tin tops was actually the finale for the WTCC.

There is a connection between A1GP and Macau Grand Prix, in that the current leaders of the the A1, France, represented by Nicolas Lapierre and Alexander Premat were both former Macau Grand Prix winners in year 2003 and 2004 respectively. No surprises why these two lads are murdering the rest of the grid.

This year's Guia race hosted almost the entire WTCC field. However, I am saddened to see that this grid is a lot smaller than in previous years when a lot of competitors from the Asian Touring Car Championship and from Japan's Super Taikyu also took part. Oh well, such is the price of progress I suppose. The Guia is a world championship round after all.

Despite a hefty 60kg weight penalty Andy Priaulx managed to stick it on pole for race 1. This was achieved by a lot of dedication on Andy's part. He twice drove around the circuit in a road car a few days before. The second time being at 3 AM to look at every corner, bump, camber change and surface condition to get his set up absolutely spot on. This coupled with his blinding pace meant he got the pole.

At the start, Augusto Farfus Jr, in an Alfa relatively unhampered by weight penalties managed to get ahead. The race had to be stopped though after an incident at the infamous Lisboa corner involving a spinning BMW that then blocked the entire road. At the restart it was again Farfus in the lead with Priaulx in close attendance. Andy's championship rivals Dirk Muller and Fabrizio Giovanardi in 4th and 9th respectively.

When the Alfas carry weight penalties, the effect is absolutely enormous. By contrast the Bimmers of Priaulx and Dirk Muller take it in their stride and still manage to be very competitive. Priaulx was absolutely glued to the back of Farfus, the difference between front wheel drive and rear wheel drive never been clearer than through Lisboa. Priaulx would slipstream the Alfa on the long straight whereby Farfus would defend on the inside. The front wheel drive Alfa being the understeering bitch that it is was super slow through Lisboa. You can see Priaulx brake later and turn in a lot quicker than the Alfa. Twice, Farfus was so slow through the turn that Priaulx would bump into him, creating a sizeable dent on the Alfa's rump by the end of the race.

Another surprise was that the Alfa was visibly slower through the ultra quick Mandarin curve than Priaulx's BMW, thus allowing the Englishman to slipstream him going into Lisboa. However, the Alfa was surprisingly just as quick in the twisty hillside section as the BMW.

Giovanardi crashed out in race 1. The race was won by Farfus with Priaulx coming in second. In race 2 and with the top 8 starting in reverse order, it was the BMW of three time Macau winner Duncan Huisman that went into the lead after a storming start. Priaulx had to fight from seventh and managed to overtake a number of SEATs and Chevrolets along the way to another second spot. He was catching up to Duncan as well towards the end and in fact made a move going into Lisboa. He tried again on the final lap but yellow flags at Lisboa stopped his attempt. Duncan was fortunate. On the last lap he brushed the guardrails at Resevoir bend two corners from the end but he manageed to hold on and win his fourth Macau Grand Prix. Lucky bastard. In my view Duncan is overrated and if not for the grid reversal wouldn't have had a look in.

Dirk Muller retired from the race and Priaulx was crowned 2005 World Touring Car Champion. Andy Priaulx really deserved this crown for all his speed and commitment. Here was the guy who in 1997 after a lacklustre Formula 3 season with little prospects for the future, fought his way over the years to be ETCC and WTCC champion. He's also confirmed as a works BMW driver for the next two years. Another nice to see was Racing Bart Mampaey's triumph over mighty Schnitzer. Both are works BMW teams running under the banner of BMW Team UK and Deutschland respectively. But I should think Schnitzer is more "works" than little Racing Bart Mampaey.

I confess to have missed the F3 race except for the start of race 1. Loic Duval in Dallara Mercedes qualified on pole and was absolutely running away with it. The Dallara Mercedes is actually Lewis Hamilton's F3 Euroseries race car and Loic used it to good effect. This prompted the commentators to wonder whether Lewis Hamilton's performances this year was actually more of a result of a superior machine as opposed rather than his driving talent. Unsurprisingly, Loic took race 1.

In race 2, Loic jumped the start was forced to make a stop and go penalty. This allowed Luca di Grassi to win it from Robert Kubica. These two came in third and second respectively last year. However, the most impressive performance came from a certain Sebastien Vettel who finished third in this, his first visit to Macau. This lad, only 18 years old has won the ADAC Formula BMW championship by taking 18 of 20 rounds, earning him a Williams test. This year he's in the Formula 3 Euroseries. For a lad's first time in Macau, his third place is excellent. By comparison, Nico Rosberg and Nelson Piquet Jr both were down in the mid twenties spot on their first visits.

Prior to this year, I've always had the impression of Macau being a very "purist" racing event. What I mean is that it had a Goodwood Festival of Speed atmosphere to it. I'm not so sure this year what with the WTCC throwing out a lot of competitors from the Guia race. Still, it was enjoyable to watch and with close competition between the Alfas BMWs and SEATs was actually much better than in previous years.

Chinese Grand Prix

After the breathtaking action we got last weekend and the promise of a titanic battle between the McLarens and Renaults for the season finale, in the end the Chinese Grand Prix was a bit of a let down. And yet, despite the fact that the driver's title has been settled two grands prix ago, here was a race win by Alonso that showed just why he deserved his title. When it mattered in qualy and the race, he put in an absolutely faultless display of superiority beating Kimi fair and square. No engine blow outs, no broken front suspension.

TO be sure the race was quite a boring one. It was amusing to see a seven time world champion make a damned fool of himself even before the start of the race, colliding with Christian Albers in Minardi's last race. That meant Michael had to forfeit his sixth on the grid and start from the pitlane. Joining him from the pitlane was Albers and Karthikeyan who came in immediately before the start of the race to refuel.

Michael was perhaps the only person really on the move today having to fight his way from way back. Up front, Alonso romped away from pole and left teammate Fisichella, Raikkonen and Montoya for dead. Montoya managed to force his way past fourth place starter Button at the start. I'm sure it was a fair fight but I can't but help think if Button was asked by the powers to move aside so that the championship battle could be settled by the big boys up front. Of course, we'll never know but its happened before 12 seasons ago. Just ask Nigel Mansell.

Fisichella was keeping Raikkonen at bay. The Renaults running lower wings to maximise speeds down Shanghai's long main straight. This circuit is too bloody technical for its own good and despite its width, there's only one quick line into the twisty bits and if you're off line you're going to lose too much time. As I've so often said, the Shanghai circuit is absolutely bullshit. This and Bahrain being among the worse of Hermann Tilke's ghastly creations.

With no way to make it stick in the turns coupled with bullshit FIA aero rules, Fisichella's tinier wings meant he'd have an easy time keeping Kimi behind in the straights. In fact, Raikkonen's care looked for once, not quite as planted as it normally would be. Moreover, even Montoya was having a sniff at his teammate's position just ahead.

It looked bad for the McLarens. Any thought of the Renaults running light was completely rubbished. They were definitely running with the McLarens fair and square and they were ahead for once. In the end, we had a safety car period when Juan Pablo, unsighted, ran over a drain cover that had popped up on the exit kerb on turn 10.

And there's the thing isn't it? The FIA who purports to care so much about safety somehow had let this slip by. In fact the the Australian Touring Car Race that was held here prior to this weekend also experienced the same thing. And isn't it a well known fact that at least a couple of weeks prior to any race, the FIA would be sending delegates to check on the condition of the circuits? Seems like they didn't do a thorough job on it.

For here's the thing. Montoya was lucky that the loose manhole cover punctured a hole in the floor of the McLaren damaging the radiators and coolers in the process. Lucky for him, it didn't punch a hole right underneath his seat. The consequences could have been lethal. As I said, so much for the much vaunted FIA safety.

And whilst there are whole loads of run off areas in the right places in Bahrain and Turkey, nevertheless, on the sweeping right hander before the main straight, Narain Karthikeyan was left without any when his car understeered and slammed into the wall, prompting another lengthy safety car period. Oh yeah, I forgot, Max Mosley is too busy campaigning to keep his FIA presidency to care I suppose. Typical crony.

Okay thats a bit harsh I admit. Back to the race, Michael Schumacher made a really silly school boy error in the safety car period and somehow managed to lockup his car and spin into the kitty litter. I suppose when its not your year.... He must simply hate the Shanghai circuit. Well he's not alone, I absolutely detest it.

Teams used the second safety car periods to dive into the pits for their second stops of the day and during this time, McLaren managed to get Raikkonen ahead of Fisichella. Still, with Montoya out of the race by now, it really didn't matter. Ralf Schumacher and Christian Klein stayed out. At the restart, so quick was the Renault of Alonso that even brimming with fuel he managed to slowly pull ahead of the chasing Toyota and Red Bull behind him.

Eventually, Klein dived into the pits leaving Ralf alone in second. When the Toyota made his stop, he re-emerged ahead of Klein and Fisichella. Fisichella had been delayed for a stop go penalty for stacking up the field when he came in for his second stop. In fact, Mark Webber did the same thing to Button much to the chagrin of Nick Fry at BAR. Somehow, Mark escaped any penalties.

In fact Mark was locked in a battle with Barrichello in his ever fading Prancing Mule. Its a sad fact of this circuit that only if you're so much bloody faster than the person in front will you ever find a way past him. Luckily for Webber, Barrichello's car was deteriorating rapidly courtesy of ineffective Bridgestone tyres. Not only did Webber make it past but so did Button and eventually David Coulthard.

Coulthard was unlucky at various points of the race. He went into the pits just before the safety car and thus wasted time. Otherwise, he'd have been ahead of Klein.

At the finish, Kimi gave it one final push but everyone could tell that Alonso was just cruising home. Kimi did set the fastest lap although I would've thought Alonso could have easily beaten that if he were really trying. Alonso crossed the line in the lead muich to the delight of the entire Renault team. I think they deserved their title for they always pulled through went it really mattered this season. But as James Allen said at the end, Alonso ought not quit his day job for his rendition of Queen's classic victory tune was horrid! Perhaps the only thing he did wrong today.

So ends the 2005 season and whilst some (especially Ferrari fans) would say its been a boring season, I thought it was a good one, the best in many a year. 2003 could have been greater had Ferrari and Bridgestone not pulled their political muscle into play but c'est la vie. All hail King Alonso and long live The Regie!

Japanese Grand Prix Thriller

What a race! Perhaps the best in recent memory and dare I say it, one of the best I've ever seen. If you were a Kimi or Fernando Alonso fan, the weekend couldn't have started any worse. Kimi saddled with yet another penalty courtesy of sub standard Mercedes engines. But as Fernando said, he's lucky most of them happen during practise. Still, you really wonder what is with Norbert Haug's boys. In qualifying the rain heavily penalized Fernando and especially the McLaren of Juan Pablo Montoya.

Fernando was simply flying off into the distance at the start of the race. Juan Pablo also making a good getaway ahead of his teammate. But as ever this season Juan seems to have problems keeping away from the slower traffic. This time, it was in the shape of former world champion Jacques Villeneuve. Having made a hash of the last chicane, Jacques was slow getting away. Montoya seizing the opportunity tried to around the outside of the hapless Villeneuve. I suppose he was blind sided or his awareness perhaps just isn't what it used to be, he simply drove into Juan Pablo's path forcing him into the grass and into the barrier.

The safety car deployed, it didn't look very good for McLaren at this point. It looked great from Renault's standpoint. Fisico lying in second from the lightly fueled Toyota of Ralf Schumacher. Alonso was eighth and looking incredibly quick today. Kimi was further behind stuck behind Villeneuve and didn't look at that stage too quick.

Fernando now behind the increasingly impressive Christian Klein went side by side with the Austrian into the final chicane, leaving his braking too late with no room to turn in, straightlined the (in)famous right left into the grass. With the presence of mind befitting a world champion he let Klein through but immediately was on the gas and slipstreamed the Austrian going into the start finish straight.

He took Klein then immediately setting off for Michael Schumacher's Ferrari which he caught in a flash. Apparently Michael being in a high downforce wet setup simply didn't have straight line speed. Good reason and also a good excuse I think. For it is no bad thing being in high downforce trim at the constantly turning Suzuka.

Then the FIA struck with their ineptness. Charlie Whiting wasn't satisfied that Alonso had let Klein through in the previous incident ordered that the Spaniard slow down and let the Austrian through once again. By then he was seven seconds up the road right on Michael's tail. Being the professional, this he did and duly overtook Klein with ease again. But by this time he was joined by Kimi. The both of them then simply driving up behind Michael.

Superb stuff at this point. Up front Fisichella was pulling away from Button and Webber but the battle royale was between these three. Two world champions and one mighty fast Finn. What came next must go down as one of the classiest overtaking moves ever. Despite having a good drive out of Spoon curve thanks to his greater downforce Michael could see that Fernando was catching him on the straight. So he decided to defend going into 130R. Fernando was by now side by side. Anyone who plays Suzuka on the Playstation knows 130R is damned tricky especially if, like Fernando you're trying it on the outside. At that point, there's only room for one. Lo and behold it was Michael who blinked. Brilliant! Now that's why Flavio chose Fernando to replace Button at Renault.

Having cleared the Ferrari, Fernando now went off into the distance but soon after was in the pits for his first stop. Kimi was now stuck behind Michael but it was clear that the German was slowing him down. Any thoughts of Kimi running longer was dashed when he they both dived into the pits together. When both of them emerged, Fernando was behind them again. The extra laps in low fuel benefitting both Michael and Kimi.

The three best drivers in Formula 1 running together is a sight to behold. Alas, I never got to see how Kimi went past Michael but this he did going into the inside of turn 2. Any chance of the great Ferrari fightback was completely gone in the race having promised so much in the practise session. Now Fernando was back behind Michael and once again, he found a way past. Michael this time, leaving his braking too late going into the chicane. This put him off line for the right which led him into a tight turn to the left in the chicane. This meant a slow getaway and a tighter line in the final sweep. All Fernando had to do was slipstream the German. Both these pros don't brake for turn 1 and by that time Fernando was ahead and all he had to do was simply chop in front of Michael before braking for turn 2. Classic.

Soon enough Kimi was behind Webber who in turn was right behind Button. Between Kimi and Fernando, I thought Kimi was a little less decisive with his overtaking. His problem was a top gear that was too short, so he kept banging on the rev limiter on the straights. This meant that Webber and Button were both slowing him down. Fernando managed to catch up to the trio once he dispatched Michael. At which point, he dived into the pits again.

Soon, the Williams and the BAR made their second and final stops leaving Kimi to build up a cushion with his additional fuel. In the pits, the Williams pit crew were just slightly quicker with their stop and this allowed Webber to nip ahead of Jenson. They were literally side by side in the pits but Webber gained the upper hand and that was all she wrote. The Grove squad must have been immensely pleased by that. I knew I was. I mean all this fuss about Jenson when the man hasn't even won a single bloody race? I'm glad Frank decided to let him go.

Kimi had an additional 5 laps of fuel in his McLaren. Fisichella though had been some 20 seconds up the road before his stop. At that point, you would've guessed that Fisico would be scoring another victory. But no one told Kimi this. When the Finn emerged from his pitstop he was only 5 seconds behind with 8 laps remaining. No doubt he could catch the Italian but surely passing him would be impossible.

Behind them, Fernando was a little frustrated with his fuel strategy. His early stop meant that he'd have to hunt down Button and Webber. This he did. Button was clearly no match and was dismissed with ease. Webber was a little more feisty. However, Fernando seems to have that final chicane down pat. Webber slow getting out of the chicane has Fernando tailing him going into the start finish line. Webber defends and makes it hard for him but Fernando displaying fearlessness and commitment has his right wheels on the grass going into turn 1. That Mr Button is how you do that.

Up front, Kimi is still driving the wheels off his McLaren and taking enormous chunks out of the Italian's lead. Three laps from the end they both catch a Minardi and at 130R, the Minardi suddenly takes the inside line which I thought must have surprised Giancarlo and slowed him down some. This is playing right into Kimi hands. Going into the chicane, Giancarlo is a little to apprehensive and in the words of Martin Brundle, "defends airspace." Kimi was nowhere near at the point but he still went to the right hoping to dissuade the Finn was wasn't there at the time. This slowed him tremendously and Kimi was soon on his tail.

Clearly Kimi was quick but the Renault does have some good straight line speed and with some expert defending Giancarlo had a reasonable chance of keeping him behind. At the end of the penultimate lap, Giancarlo again for some strange reason keeps to the right hand side going into the chicane. Having to take a tighter line into the chicane, he didn't have good drive into the straight. Kimi slipstreamed him and by then end of the straight was just ahead of him. He chopped right across the Italian going into turn 1 without braking. They almost touched. But it was enough. Kimi was into the lead on that most important lap, the final one.

It was a superb race by any standard. Though I felt that Fernando had a chance of winning as well had he not been delayed by those FIA morons. He clearly had the car underneath him. His fastest lap of 1m 31.599 was just 0.059s slower than Kimi's lap record (1m 31.540s). Thats an outright lap record by the way. So much for slowing the cars down huh Max? Idiot.

The surprising thing about Suzuka is that it was possible for cars to follow one another through the endless twists and turns of the figure of eight circuit. Not only was it possible for Kimi and Alonso to follow cars around, they found a way to overtake as well. Somehow the aero turbulences affect the cars less over here. I have a feeling those constantly fast curves and sweeps had something to do with it.

The losers of this race? Giancarlo Fisichella is definitely one that comes to mind. He had the race in his hands. Kimi did great but it was also a case of Giancarlo losing it. Not impressive at all. Flavio was absolutely livid and stormed off from the pitwall straight after the chequered flag. Understandably. By contrast Ron Dennis could hardly contain himself and I'm sure insisted he was going to be on the podium to collect the constructor's cup. He was almost dancing up there. Careful Ron, you'll spoil that glossy corporate image of yours with such displays.

And what about that Takuma Sato? Now everyone thinks he's a menace. Certainly Jarno Trulli thinks so. I simply think the best therapy for him is a visit to one of the many Zen buddhist temples in Japan. He has a terribly hard time controlling himself. The occassion simply overwhelms him and he loses all awareness. It was plain to see at Suzuka where I'm sure he was out to impress his home crowd and Honda. He's got speed and talent but he just gets too excited. Oi mate. World War 2's been over for ages. The emperor is not asking you to fly kamikaze missions anymore. Relax. Alas, it just might be too late for him now. Quite deservedly, he got disqualified from the race.

His teammate at least completed the race but many I think loved seeing him get beaten by Webber who came in fourth. A good result at last for the embattled and bitter Grove/Munchen squad. David Coulthard I thought drove a good solid race to finish ahead of Michael Schumacher. Klein might outqualify him quite often but at the end of a race, its usually David up front and bringing the points home.

And Michael? Still the great man but for his car. And make no mistkae, it isn't just the tyres, that car is below par. The sight of these whipper snappers going past him must be demoralising to someone used to winning world championships. I mean, he did blink at 130R. That's the key point.

Don't you just love it when the gloves are off and everyone is just battling. Yesterday's race showed quite clearly, that the future of Formula 1 is already here. Spare a thought for Juan Pablo though. I thought he had a great chance of winning this race but for that has-been, I-have-a-BMW-contract (but no one believes him) ex world champion. What a battle it would have been had Juan Pablo been running with Kimi, Fernando and Michael.

Turkish Grand Prix

At last the mentally challenged Hermann Tilke decides to pen a good circuit, after nightmares like Shanghai and Bahrain. Finally we see a return to a flowing layout instead of Tilke's tight drag race like affairs. A Spa Francorchamp it most certainly is not but Istanbul is a lot better than most. Top 5 I should think. Even the slow corners in the first and second sector have a nice flow to it.

In a circuit likened to Spa, the McLarens were always going to look good and so it proved in the practice sessions spoilt only by Riccardo Zonta in the Toyota. In qualifying, Juan Pablo was the first one out and despite that set a time good for an eventual fourth on the grid. Giancarlo Fisichella benefitted from a later run than his teammate to start on the front row. Fernando Alonso's lap being spoilt by tail wind on the back straight. The Spaniard ran slightly wide going into the last corner and losing a few tenths there.

The Ferraris were absolute rubbish on this circuit. Obviously the older spec Bridgestone tyres simply not working at all, whether on a banzai lap or over the longer runs in practice, the cars some two seconds down on the frontrunners. To add to their predicament, Michael Schumacher spun his car going in to turn 9. Again, tail wind was blamed for this but really it boggled the mind to see his car suddenly spinning in the middle of turn 9 for apparently no good reason.

The BARs were looking good during practice and looked set for a good result in Istanbul. However, both Button and Sato made mistakes during qualifying. Both of them making it at the same corner, the much lauded turn 8. Before qualifying Button was quoted as saying that turn 8 was just about the best corner in Formula 1. I don't know about best corner, but it certainly is challenging and spectacular. In the end though, Sato was penalized for holding up Mark Webber during the Australian's flying lap and was stripped of his qualifying time.

Both Williams did well given their form in recent months to qualify sixth and seventh on the grid. Jarno Trulli as ever the qualifier for Toyota starting the race in fifth.

At the start, Kimi Raikkonen had a touch too much wheelspin and this allowed Giancarlo Fisichella to pip him going into the first corner. Fernando Alonso was also broadside going into turn 1 but Kimi managed to squeeze through in second. Behind them Juan Pablo Montoya did better on his start to stay ahead of Jarno Trulli. Two McLarens and two Renaults just like Montreal and it looked game on.

On that first lap, going into turn 9, Giancarlo ran wide on the exit and lost time. Kimi right behind was able to take advantage of it and was side by side with Giancarlo going into 10. The Renaults enjoyed a straight line advantage over the McLaren and Fernando was again side by side with Kimi going into the turn. Under braking though, the greater downforce of the McLaren helped Kimi nutmeg the both of them under braking and he was through.

Giancarlo stayed second at this point but once Kimi was ahead he simply drove away as expected. Renault getting nervous with this situation instigated a nicely worded team order. Fernando Alonso was told that he was quicker than Giancarlo and should therefore overtake. This he duly did on the back straight, and not even under braking as well.

I've always thought the team order rule is silly in motor racing, given its a team sport. Of course in the past there were incidents like Austria 2002 to blame for the current ruling but there were also other events that made it a good show. And as events showed on Sunday, this rule is hard to police.

Kimi kept on going up front with Fernando Alonso safe in second being protected by Giancarlo in third. Juan Pablo was looking rather racy in fourth and one could have no doubt that he would at least leapfrog Fisichella during the pitstops. Behind them, Jarno Trulli kept a watching brief in fifth but otherwise unable to close significantly and challenge the front runners.

Behind them Michael Schumacher had made a great start from the back of the grid and ran behind teammate Rubens Barrichello. Button though, with clearly a much faster car dispatched the both of them on consequent laps. Button had a terrific race and was soon making his way up the grid passing Klein and Coulthard along the way. He was soon up into 6th spot behind Jarno Trulli.

The Renaults pitted for fuel first and much earlier than the McLarens. With the Renaults in the pits the McLaren of Juan Pablo was free to run and at during his stop passed both the Renaults and ran second for much of the race until the last couple of laps. Fisichella though once again ran into bad luck. A fuel rig problem delaying his stop and putting him way down the order.

The top three remained the way the were until just before the end of the race but Juan Pablo was setting some scintillating lap times, setting fastest lap of the race with a high 1m 24. In the process though, he apparently flat spotted his tyres and was nursing his car towards the end of the race. Two laps from the end however, as he lapped Tiago Monteiro, the Portugese perhaps unsighted and losing downforce once the Colombian chopped across him to take turn 9 ran into the back of the McLaren.

As ever in this season, there are many arguments as to who's fault it was. I think it was both their faults. Juan Pablo could have taken his time to lap the hapless Tiago and need not have chopped across the Portugese. After all, Alonso was ten seconds behind and was no threat.

On the other hand, Tiago should also learn that as a backmarker it is your responsibility to let easily let the leaders through and ensure they get plenty of room to do it with. To be honest, I have not been at all impressed with the backmarkers this year. There have been plenty of races this year where the likes of Albers, Monteiro and Karthikeyan seem to suffer from blue flag blindness.

Alright to be fair, the backmarkers have also been wrestling to keep their cars under control more than anything, and really who's fault is that for making these stupid aero rules. Still, it shows incompetence if you're having trouble being aware of things going on around you.

As it were after being thumped at the back, Montoya went into a spin, recovered but lost time and soon Fernando was glued to his tail. A combination of damaged rear diffuser and flat spotted tyre then saw the Colombian run wide at turn 8 letting Alonso through to second much to Kimi's chagrin.

Behind them and earlier on in the race, Webber and Michael Schumacher also had a coming together. Michael was lapping the much delayed Webber (due to tyre punctures) but perhaps he was a little too slow going into turn 9. Webber retook him on the inside and Michael perhaps unsighted crashed straight into him. Mark and Michael both blame one another. However, if I'm being consistent, I should say that Mark is to blame here. Again, he's a backmarker. Move over and stay away for god's sake. However, as seven time world champion with vast experience, he should also have seen Mark side by side with him.

In the end, the top 4 was Raikkonen, Alonso, Montoya and Fisichella, who managed to recover from his pit disaster. Meanwhile behind Jenson Button managed to pass Jarno Trulli in the pits to take fifth. I think he deserved better today. He had a good car but it was his own bloody mistake in qualifying that led to his undoing. Jarno Trulli had a quiet weekend and ended up sixth. The Italian, being one of the few who's not impressed by this Otodrom. I don't know what his problem is because I think Istanbul is a fabulous circuit. But applause must be given to the Red Bulls who made up tremendous ground at the start and were quite quick. They took the last couple of points scoring places. A sixth for Coulthard and seventh for Klein.

The McLarens clearly are unbeatable at this moment. With the exception of the next race in Monza where its not so clear cut I would say they have the potential to win all the remaining races. However, with Alonso finishing second here today the championship you might say is done. The odds for Alonso winning the championship is clearly too great. Still I wouldn't mind seeing Kimi taking more race wins this year. In the constructors championship, I think McLaren are going to clinch it. With Juan Pablo at least landing in the podium slots and Kimi winning they're going to rack up enough points to haul Renault in. All told, perhaps thats the best and most appropriate outcome for this year.

Up next is the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. This is perhaps the only race where the Prancing Mules can take a victory on merit. They have been testing a LOT at Monza and with these new spec Bridgestones available again they should do a fine job of it. I'm still hoping they get beaten in front of their adoring tifosi. By both Renault and McLaren.

Hungarian Grand Prix

This race has consistently been voted the most boring race of the year by both fans and critics. Strange then that I found it to have passed quite quickly. Usually I'll be falling asleep by the hour mark.

This year there was some excitement what with the Ferraris experiencing a revival of sorts and duking it out with the McLarens for honours. The Ferraris were looking good all weekend and promised to spoil the 2005 applecart.

In the end, they just confirmed what I suspect happened during the German Grand Prix. Obviously starting mid field is not helping them so they've switched to a strategy of qualifying at front of the grid, try and make a break during the race and as the tires wear out, fight a rearguard action.

A strategy not without merit especially at this, a notoriously difficult circuit to pass. Not helped of course by these confounded aero regulations that make following another car difficult let alone pass. Of course, what Ferrari could not keep at bay were the mighty McLarens of Montoya and Raikkonen. Kimi's qualifying of course handicapped by having to go out first during qualifying. So McLaren short fueled Kimi and chose a completely different strategy for Juan Pablo.

In the end, both strategies looked to be good for winning the race. Lightly fueled as Kimi was, Michael was not that far heavier, running just 4 laps more than Kimi at his first stop. Despite all those extra laps on a lighter load, when he came out Kimi was right back there behind his tail. Later when Montoya came out, he was running close to Kimi who was shadowing Michael Schumacher.

It was interesting during the opening laps as Michael was obviously trying hard to make a break. His car was simply not good enough for it and whatever he did, Kimi simply matched it.

Kimi's second stop was simply a brilliant move by the McLaren team. Coming in just one lap after Michael Schumacher's second stop, the team short fueled him, whereas Michael had put in more fuel. Kimi was right behind Michael when the Ferrari pitted. But when Kimi emerged from his fuel stop, he was 7 seocnds away, thanks to a brilliant lap and that short stop.

This allowed Juan Montoya into the lead and Kimi emerging ahead of Michael, could not simply leave the Ferrari for dead. A brave but ultimately futile attempt by Ferrari to make something out of their pathetic race pace. As the McLarens were released, it was plain and obvious that Michael's tires were starting to fade for his lap times kept going slower and slower as had happened in Germany.

Juan Montoya was looking good for another win but ultimately his driveshaft gave way in an incident similar to Kimi's Imola exit. McLaren just love letting their drivers down. In Germany, some fool forgot to fasten some sort of valve properly thus causing Kimi's exit. I hope Ron Dennis remembers put the bloke to the guillotine.

At this point however, one can imagine Ron Dennis and everyone at McLaren just praying that nothing happened to Kimi. And thankfully nothing did. As happened in three other occassions this year, when his car is working well all weekend, Kimi is simply unstoppable. He built up a massive lead over Schumacher after the second stops that by the time he took his third, he could come out again still in the lead by some margin.

The fates must have been beaming at Kimi today because championship leader Fernando Alonso scored no points after a first lap first corner incident that completely wiped out his aero. According to Briatore, Alonso was driving with near zero downforce throughout the entire race. In the end he finished in 11th spot.

Ralf Schumacher was another surprise during the race. Just as he did in Germany, towards the end he caught up with Michael Schumacher and this time was much closer at the finish line. A consistent good drive by Ralf saw him running in fourth virtually all day and in the end he finished on the podium after Montoya's retirement. His first podium for Toyota and I believe their fourth(?) this year.

The BARs of Button and Sato were completely nowhere this weekend after admittedly choosing the wrong set of Michelins for the race. I believe had they put on the right type of boots, we could have seen another Button vs Michael Schumacher battle towards the end.

The Ferraris are proving quicker now. At Magny Cours and Silverstone, they were almost lapped. In Germany they finished 51 seconds down on winner Fernando Alonso. At the Hungaroring they finished just 33 seconds behind winner Kimi. In qualifying and in free practice, their pace is beginning to show whereas previously they'd still be nowhere at all. Its obvious now that they need a tyre that can take that pace throughout the race rather than fading away. Perhaps their cars are not as light on the tires as the McLarens, which are clearly more agile as well.

Ultimate pace must still belong to Woking as was evident during the race. I believe Renault too are still up there ahead of the Ferraris. But Ferrari's blatant cheating with regards to in season testing is clearly bearing fruit as they get quicker and quicker. Ross Brawn says that no more development time wiil be spent on the F2005, so its interesting to see just how much Bridgestone will develop their offerings for the rest of the year.

German Grand Prix

I may not like this new Hokkenheim circuit but I have to admit, the racing here was better than at Silverstone a fortnight ago. This circuit, remodelled by Herman Tilke carries his characteristic tight and slow corners, where aerodynamic turbulence is less of a factor. The cars relying much more on mechanical grip and the tyres. This may be what the FIA wants for the future but god, those slow corners are dreadful and don't show off what the cars can really do in the twisty bits.

You'd have to wait for Spa for that where the fast sweeps adds to the spectacle. But I fear the cars would be very much affected by aero disturbances there, as in Silverstone.

Yet again, McLaren are doing the favourite party trick. That is to let their drivers down just when it matters most. Raikkonen didn't put a foot wrong all weekend except for that lurid, go-kart like slide during his qualifying lap. Even then he managed to stick it into pole. The driver that is arguably letting his team down in Juan Pablo Montoya whose lift off oversteer at the final couple of bends ended up in a spin and a trip into the gravel.

So quick is that McLaren though, Juan Pablo managed to fight his way from twentieth and last all the way to finishing second in the race. To say that the cars were not affected by aero turbulence at all can't be true. Once Montoya had swept up into the top ten (which didn't take long at all), his progressed was slowed by the slower cars up front. His overtaking largely happening during the pitstops.

My theory is that whilst the McLaren has superb aero and is clearly the most agile and well balanced car out there, nevertheless, the Mercedes engine doesn't have the grunt of the other engines. Reportedly its power output is significantly less than Toyota, BMW and Ferrari. Although, Juan Pablo did manage to dispatch Ralf Schumacher with ease before the first stops. So, the McLaren relies much more on its chassis and aero for its speed. And getting stuck behind the likes of Button and Schumacher spoils the aero balance especially. Juan Pablo misses the extra grunt of the Honda and Ferrari engine.

Nevertheless, Juan Pablo had a lot of fuel in his McLaren and could run much longer than the rest. Indeed Juan Pablo spoke of saving fuel running behind the slower cars. Once in clear air, he could build up a cushion and overtake the BAR and Ferrari in the pits. Still, he should have stuck the McLaren on the front row and possibly win this race.

Michael Schumacher ran well in the opening stages in third and once Kimi's McLaren retired moved into second but unable to do anything with the speeding Renault ahead. Fernando Alonso in his own words had a boring afternoon. His Renault and the McLarens are miles ahead of the rest.

Schumacher elected to use softer Bridgestone tyres which was a very interesting tactic. Obviously his plan was to qualify ahead of as many people as possible behind the Renaults and McLarens. He must have known from free practice that the Japanese rubber wouldn't last the race and indeed in free practice his tyres were going bald. But given the slowish nature of this circuit, he could fight a rear guard action towards the end of the race.

His strategy succeeded. His Ferrari once his tyres were worn became a scarlet roadblock and he managed to hold off Button and Montoya for a long time. Jenson eventually made it through with a good overtaking move at the hairpin. Juan Pablo overtook him once Michael dived in for his second fuel stop. From then on, you could tell the Ferrari was losing more and more grip as the race drew to a close.

Schumacher's lap times were getting slower and slower. In the end, he might have hung on to fourth but for a fuel feed problem. This let Giancarlo through a couple of laps from the end. Behind Michael was a queue of cars including Ralf Schumacher's Toyota and David Coulthard's Red Bull, having a good weekend. However, the Ferrari's pace is a tribute to Michael's driving and good strategy. Otherwise, he would have suffered the same fate as Rubens Barrichello who finished behind Christian Klein after being passed by the Austrain. In the end Barrichello's Ferrari was lapped by leader Alonso.

Spare a thought for Raikkonen. He was setting lap times in the 1m 14s during the race, in a package clearly suited for him. He was pulling away from Fernando Alonso in what looked like a sure and easy win. In the end a pointless exercise. His hydraulic failure reminded me of the same one that afflicted Juan Pablo's McLaren at Magny Cours. Despite Ron Dennis' claims that Kimi should stay with McLaren to win the championship, young Kimi must seriously be thinking about driving other cars. Just when will McLaren sort their fast but fragile cars? Even a die hard McLaren fan like myself is getting pretty sick of this.

Toyota, in my mind are moving backwards. After some stellar performances in Bahrain and Malaysia, the team has not managed to consolidate and build upon that. The problem with the Toyotas seem to be the way they use their rubber. In the early part of the year, it seemed that they can start well but their pace bleeds off towards the end. At this stage of the championship, they're starting horridly but the car builds up speed towards the end. Even then, in terms of outright raw pace they're slipping badly behind the McLarens, Renaults and even deadly rivals BAR Honda. No surprises then that Ferrari are ahead of the in the constructors race.

Mike Gascoyne has plenty to do yet. However, I think as experienced as Gustav Brunner is, I should think that Mike would be better off with a new and more dynamic chassis designer. As in 2004, Gustav runs out of ideas in mid season.

One chap who didn't have a good weekend was Jacques Villenueve. He had a coming together with rookie Doornbos and later ran into the back of Tiago Monteiro. Poor Jacques is having a torrid time this year and once again outpaced and outraced by Filipe Massa who finished in eighth. Mario Thiessen must be shaking his head and Sauber contract or not, Mario can't afford this in his BMW team next year.

There was some good battles for the podium in Germany this weekend but I think all of us wants to see a fight for the lead. Something like the opening stages in Montreal where the Renaults and McLarens were having a good battle royal, but happening throughout the race. One thing's for sure, I doubt we'll get that at Hungary this weekend.

But happily again for me, the Ferraris despite all the testing (cheating) they've been doing are still struggling and getting left for dead. Long may that continue. Perhaps Ron Dennis was right when a year ago at Spa he predicted the fall of Maranello. The old guard is changing. Clearly, they miss Rory Byrne's hand at designing the cars. Jean Todt some say is getting a bit too distracted by his glamour seeking wife and spends less time at the factory.

On top of that he has to run the Ferrari road car operations. Once Ross Brawn leaves, perhaps at the end of next year I believe the scarlet cars could be facing another long drought of championships. Whether it will last 21 years as it did before year 2000 is another matter. if Michael wants to continue after 2006, he's going to have to convince the top people to stay on and Ferrari are going to need someone better than Aldo Costa to pen their racing cars.

If Michael leaves, I simply don't think anyone, not Raikkonen, not Button nor Alonso, could fill his shoes. Ferrari is his team and without him, they would be struggling even more this year. When he leaves, it won't be the same team and that is something Kimi, Fernando and Jenson must realise. They may be as quick as Michael on the racing track but they simply don't have the leadership and technical qualities that the German has.

British Grand Prix

At last, Juan Pablo has made it to the top step in a McLaren. After all the crap he's received (and dished out) over the season its all come good at last for the man from Bogota. He attributes his win to the first corner on the first lap, but in truth it was much more than that.

Luckily for him Kimi Raikkonen unfortunately had to start with a 10 spot penalty on the grid after an oil pump failure in his McLaren forced the team to change his engine. It was the second time in as many races poor Kimi had been penalized as such. Norbert Haug has hit out at the rules against this but really, the fault lies squarely at Mercedes on this one.

Now for many sentimental reasons I like the McLaren team. However, I believe they have this nasty habit of letting their drivers down. It certainly happened a lot to Mika Hakkinen in the past. Its happening again with Kimi. Unlike last season when McLaren had no chance at the title, this time its happening at a most critical time in the world championship. You can see at the post race interview, the frustration boiling up in Kimi despite trying to maintain a cool composure.

Luckily also for Juan Pablo, Fernando Alonso experienced traffic problems during the race. In one clear incident he was badly baulked by his good mate Jarno Trulli. He was forgiving enough of Jarno preferring instead to heap the blame on the marshals. Indeed, had he not lost time behind Jarno, he may well have been able to leapfrog Montoya after the second round of stops. Fernando chose a heavier fuel load after the first round of stops to run a longer stint. He had five extra laps on Montoya and he certainly was catching up the time lost very quickly. Alas, it was not to be.

What should not be surprising is that whilst the McLaren is ultimately the quicker car, the Renault is not far behind. Helped of course by some stellar driving by Fernando. He truly deserves to be world champion. So do Renault for giving him such a reliable and fast car. Not forgetting of course Michelin, who despite dropping the ball big time at Indianapolis, gives them both a tyre to murder Bridgestone.

Kimi though, was always going to be the focus of attention in this race. Everyone knew he'd be supremely quick in that McLaren but would the slower cars delay him? In fact they did. Both the mobile chicane of Jarno Trulli's Toyota and that scarlet pig driven by Michael Schumacher conspired to delay the Finn whilst the front runners pulled the gap up to 30 seconds at one point during the race.

The Toyota was slow but the Ferrari cannot claim to be much faster. Raikkonen was all over the back of Schumacher. In an incident at Stowe, the Ferrari was so slow Raikkonen not only had to lift off, he had to side step Schumacher as well. But as at Magny Cours, once both these cars dived into the pits, Kimi was well and truly on his way. He caught up to Jenson Button by the time of the second stop and was able to pass him in the pits.

After the first round of stops, Raikkonen in fact was just behind Alonso and made a move stick through Stowe. There was little point for the Spaniard to resist since his car was brimming with fuel and Raikkonen was miles quicker. But it was nice to see. Raikkonen capped him podium with the fastest lap of the race on the final lap. It was only 0.4 seconds off Alonso's pole. Demonstration, if there needed to be one, of his vastly superior pace. He ended up just 15 seconds behind the leaders at the end despite his huge delay.

Another guy who had a good race I thought was the ever luckless Giancarlo Fisichella. He certainly was able to give his team mate something to think about. After passing Barrichello and Button in the pits after the first stops, he was running solidly in third and shadowing his teammate and Montoya. Alas, during his second stop, he stalled the engine and it was all Raikkonen needed to take the final podium spot away from him.

The Ferraris again had a torrid weekend. This time, there were no retirements to help them and they ended up where they deserve to be, down in sixth and seventh for Schumacher and Berrichello respectively. Michael had completely botched up his qualifying through Stowe and Ferrari tried a three stop strategy for Barrichello that failed miserably. Barrichello, running light was able to stay with Jenson for a while but after the first round of stops was completely blown away. Michael's only feature in the race was to play Minardi in front of Kimi Raikkonen.

All the "cheating" Ferrari have done in the last week seems to have been to no avail. They still ended up 75 seconds behind winner Montoya and a little over a minute behind Raikkonen who started behind them. Yet again, they were almost lapped and this pleases me. I hope Renault and McLaren can repeat the trick where it really counts, at Monza in front of the tifosi. Tall order I know.

Another team finding it tough was Williams. Webber and Heidfeld finishing a lap down in 11th and 12th. Ever since the Sauber announcement, the team's performances have deteriorated tremendously to such a dismal state. Not too long ago, Heidfeld was sharing podiums with the likes of Alonso, now he's finishing behind Filipe Massa. The team have a lot of work to do but not much time to do it with. Unlike some teams, Williams do abide by agreements and choose to compete honourably. But really, Silverstone is normally a circuit where Williams does well. In the past they've simply blitzed the opposition there. That they've struggled so badly today shows the troubles they are in.

Toyota's Ralf Schumacher picked up the final point in eighth whilst Jarno Trulli who qualified ahead of him finished ninth. This is another team that have slipped up badly over the last few races. They had been picking up podiums early on in the season but it seems they've been left behind badly in the development race. They can take heart of the fact that they were not very far behind the Ferraris but really they should be ahead and fighting at the front. I wonder whats going on now at Cologne but Mike Gascoyne has plenty to do.

The best action on track this weekend must go to the midfield battle between the Saubers, Williamses and the Red Bulls. Their battles were actually getting in the way of the leaders but it looked absolutely superb. David Coulthard pulling some good moves. Jacques Villeneuve especially pulling a good one on him. Pity this wasn't the battle for the lead but then again, Formula 1's battles have always raged on in the midfield.

A great result for Montoya then. He did drive superbly and he was quick. I thought he deserved to win. Up next is the Tilke castrated Hokkenheim cicruit where I suspect it'll be more of the same as this weekend. Overtaking at Silverstone was difficult with the cars experiencing massive aero turbulence, no thanks to this stupid FIA 2005 aero rules. But Hokkenheim is a circuit where overtaking is possible despite all the slowish corners. It should be another exciting battle between the Renaults and McLarens. But only if Mercedes can give Kimi an engine that doesn't blow up.

Before I sign off, my heart goes out to the people of London, my home for many years.