Dear Nigel,

I am heading out to Eldora Speedway tonight to watch Jeff Gordon, Tony Kanaan, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and endless others race on the half-mile dirt oval for charity. I was thinking how great it would be to see a Räikkönen, Vettel, Kubica or even a Hamilton out there on the dirt. I know of your love of dirt track racing and was curious as to who you’d like to see, past or present from F1, taking part in such an event, as well as who you think would do well getting lose on the dirt.

Michael Spitale

Timo Glock (2nd)
“This was a podium in the right moment for us,” said Glock during the post-race press conference. Oh, and how right he is. The Toyota Formula 1 team desperately needed a good result to show the board of directors that the programme is worthwhile. Although he gained a place when Webber let him through the car was good, but Glock produced the drive of the day. I suggest his career prospects have brightened somewhat. 10/10

Fernando Alonso (3rd)
His team-mate might not have helped him this time, but the Spaniard needed little aid in getting to the podium. If Rosberg and Vettel hadn’t had their penalties then he wouldn’t have finished there, but as they say, that’s racing. ‘Mr (self-proclaimed) Consistent’ once again produced a result, which is exactly what Renault need at this moment in time. 8/10

Sebastian Vettel (4th)
Vettel must be pondering what could’ve been after receiving a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane. He was up there with Hamilton before his car started to fall to pieces. Running wide over a kerb stripped some of the diffuser from his Red Bull, while a vibration took one of his mirrors. His championship prospects aren’t dead, but they’re not looking too healthy either. 8/10

Jenson Button (5th)
A disastrous qualifying lap in Q2 meant he didn’t even make it to Q3, so in view of that he did a great job in the race. His laps during the second bout of pitstops were worthy of a World Champion, but once again the Brit was let off the hook somewhat. Finishing one place ahead of team-mate and chief title rival Barrichello and one behind Vettel left him a very happy man. Phew. 7/10

Rubens Barrichello (6th)
He may have crashed in qualifying, but Barrichello looked on the pace. It wasn’t until Button produced his Schumacher-style laps over the second phase of pitstops that he lost his edge. It could have been worse, although championship-wise he now needs to rely on his team-mate having a couple of DNFs, which is never a great situation to be in. Not that Button has looked unshakeable under pressure… (6.5/10)

Heikki Kovalainen (7th)
At Monza the Finn went some way to ensuring that the team won’t sign him for next season. He was stronger in this race, but his team-mate won and never looked like being caught – something that won’t have gone unnoticed by McLaren’s management. It’s sad that Kovalainen probably won’t be with the team in 2010, as he has shown glimpses of blistering speed this season. But that’s not enough to keep you in this sport. 6/10

Robert Kubica (8th)
So BMW is pulling out due to financial reasons, but it’s still spending money on developing the car until the end of the season? Yes, it’s a weird situation, I’m sure you’ll agree, but Kubica won’t be complaining – anything that helps him score a World Championship point will be more than welcome. A solid race from the Pole, and oh how we’d like to see him in a competitive car. 7/10

Kazuki Nakajima (9th)
Another good performance from Nakajima, but again – much like Kovalainen – it has to be viewed in terms of his team-mate being up at the front (initially). One has to wonder where his future lies if Williams decides not to continue with Toyota next year. Still, the Japanese driver is not renowned for keeping it on the black stuff, so he did well to have a clean race at a track as unforgiving as Singapore. 5/10

Kimi Räikkönen (10th)
Ferrari’s lack of development is finally hurting the Finn with 10th place ending his recent run of strong results. He didn’t make a great start despite his KERS advantage and failed to do anything particularly special during the race. He didn’t do anything wrong, however, and stayed clear of the walls unlike last year. I fear the high-grip circuits are going to hurt the Scuderia in the last part of this season. 6/10

Nico Rosberg (11th)
If Vettel is asking himself what could’ve been, then Rosberg must be screaming it. He looked like a real challenger for Hamilton, before running wide over the white line on the exit of the pitlane and ruining his race. The fact that he took his drive-through penalty just after a safety car period meant he dropped to the back of the field. He didn’t stop racing though, which was a delight to see. 8/10

Jarno Trulli (12th)
The fact that he hasn’t got a drive with Toyota for next year could well be sapping the Italian of some motivation. He never looked like matching his team-mate’s pace throughout the race. It was a fairly quiet hour and 56 minutes for Trulli, and fairly disappointing at that. Qualifying 15th and finishing 12th in view of the various retirements will no doubt leave him with a sour taste in his mouth – more of a Singapore flunk than a Singapore Sling. 5/10

Giancarlo Fisichella (13th)
Fisichella may well be having second thoughts about his decision to move to Ferrari, as I doubt he realised just how different a KERS-equipped car would be to drive. This coupled with a circuit surrounded by walls was a harsh ‘welcome to the real world’ after his Monza debut. Still, it could be worse – Badoer could still be in the car. 4/10

Vitantonio Liuzzi (14th)
It was more of the same from Liuzzi, who impressed so much at Monza. He admitted before this race that his Italian form would be hard to carry over to the streets of Singapore. But he kept his nose clean, which is more than can be said for his team-mate… 5/10

Jaime Alguersuari (15th – RET)
He was sliding about so much that it looked like he was running on Historic Dunlops for most of the race, but hats off to him for not sliding off. He blotted his copybook, however, when he exited his pit with the fuel hosestill attached. The lollipop hadn’t even moved, so there was no one to blame but himself. Eventually retired with brake problems. 3/1

Sebastien Buemi (16th – RET)
Buemi looked quick at the start of the weekend and was even bold enough to say “it’s good to be back in the top 10”. But after qualifying in 14th, he had little chance to impress in the race. Running wide to let Räikkönen through preceded several trips to the pits to refuel (due to a faulty second fuel rig – his team-mate having comprehensively damaged the first one) and he finally retired with gearbox problems. A weekend to forget for everyone at Toro Rosso. 4/10

Mark Webber (17th – RET)
Never really on the pace all weekend, and then his brakes decided to pack up and go home early, leaving him in a tyre barrier, which was a fairly good effort considering 99 per cent of the circuit is surrounded by walls. His team might not have such a big repair job on its hands, but both he and Red Bull will be disappointed that his title hopes are gone. 6/10

Adrian Sutil (18th – RET)
Ran well until a spin, in which his car was undamaged. However he then collided with Heidfeld while trying to get going again. Sutil was able to get back to the pits, but retired soon after. 3/10

Nick Heidfeld (19th – RET)
See above… Heidfeld had a solid race but his hopes for a good result were dashed by Sutil. He received a 15-place grid penalty after his car was found to be short of ballast, so he did well to work his way up the field on a track where overtaking is nigh-on impossible. 6/10

Romain Grosjean (20th – RET)
Brake problems ended Grosjean’s race after only three laps. He summed it up better than I ever could with a very French shrug. 2/10

Another Grand Prix and another win for Button. He may have lost a place to team-mate Barrichello at the start, but the Brit got his head down and gave us another remarkable display of driving and getting the most out of the car and tyres. A large shunt at the beginning finished Trulli’s, Fisichella’s, Sutil’s, Bourdais’ and Buemi’s race but the other talking point of the afternoon was just how wrong it all went for Ferrari. Again.

Here’s how they all stacked up…

Jenson Button (1^st)
On finishing the race, just before going onto the podium Button asks “sorry, where do I go”? A sign of just how many times the Brit has visited the podium in Barcelona. Another great day, even though he lost first place to Barrichello at the start, he proved that when a driver is at the top of their game nothing can stop them. Or indeed go wrong – he crossed the start/finish line 1.6secs before the end of the Q3 session to start his flying lap that got him pole. Changing to a two-stop strategy in the race (rather than three) certainly helped. 9.5/10

Rubens Barrichello (2^nd)
“I don’t know how I lost that race man.” He was quicker than Button throughout the weekend (bar Button’s stunning qualifying lap) and humbled the Brit at the start. However, he couldn’t get his tyres to work in the second and third stints meaning that almost certain victory slipped through his hands. A good sign for Brawn though when one of their drivers is disappointed with second. If he can’t pin Button back in the next few GPs it’ll be like Ferrari all over again where he had to play second fiddle to Schumacher for so long. 7/10

Mark Webber (3^rd)
He’s so far been outclassed by his team-mate Vettel this year and this weekend looked to be going along the same depressing lines for the Australian. As soon as he tussled with Alonso in the opening stint though we knew we were watching a man on a mission. A great drive and one which heralded receiving the ‘Drive of the Day’ award from Coulthard. Anyone else notice how he always backs the Red Bull drivers? Funny old world… 9/10

Sebastian Vettel (4^th)
Tipped by Coulthard to win the race. The German’s afternoon effectively ended when Massa ‘KERSed’ him off the line. If Red Bull need any information on the Ferrari rear-end though, I’m sure Vettel will be able to tell them exactly what it looks like after staring at it for an hour and a half. 6/10

Fernando Alonso (5^th)
All he had to do was overtake a back marker and the crowd would erupt. Which is exactly what they did when he fortuitously took fifth in the dying laps when Massa had to slow because of a lack of fuel. Probably would have won if he was being powered by the support for him during the weekend. As luck would have it, he was in a Renault and was lucky just to get points. Solid drive. But that’s the least we expect from him… 7/10

Felipe Massa (6^th)
Ferrari has certainly improved ­– the car that is rather than their general running of the team – but I suggest Massa flattered them somewhat today. A catastrophic error in the final pitstop meant that he didn’t have enough fuel to finish the race, so had to give up fourth to Vettel and then fifth to Alonso. Only managed to keep Vettel behind him for that long though thanks to KERS. At least his car didn’t come to a grinding halt. Ah, of course it did, it ran out of fuel just before the end. 7/10

Nick Heidfeld (7^th)
A pretty quiet race for Heidfeld although he did well to keep Räikkönen behind him in the opening stages. The BMW is faster, but definitely not fast enough. Had the measure of Kubica though. When you drive reasonably well, only 14 cars finish, you’re in a car that was fighting for the World Championship up until the last few races the season before and you don’t even get a point you’ve got to struggle to see the point of it all. 6/10

Nico Rosberg (8^th)
Continues to excel in Friday practice, but that doesn’t really help a team get points on the board. Could be worse, he could have a team-mate who pushed him more… Good, long first stint though after punting Trulli off on the first lap. 6/10

Lewis Hamilton (9^th)
“What did you feel when Jenson Button lapped you near the end of the Grand Prix?” Hamilton, deadpan face: “nothing”. I very much doubt that Mr Hamilton. It must have felt like one last kick in the tender area after another weekend of having no grip whatsoever. This season is going to feel as long as 2008 was exciting for the current World Champion. 5.5/10

Timo Glock (10^th)
Qualified well but just slipped further and further back in the race. He out-drove Trulli, but only because his team-mate’s race ended on the first lap. An afternoon Glock will want to forget. If Hamilton is as unhappy as he is with ninth then Glock in a Toyota – which, lest we forget, is supposed to be one of the fastest cars in 2009 ­– finishing behind him must be as painful as being stuck with a Toyota Prius as a courtesy road car (I’m sure he has something a lot more interesting). 4.5/10

Robert Kubica (11^th)
He’s never sought out the limelight and even when he was battling for the World Championship last year he was quiet. Now though, he looks positively rock star noisy last year compared to how he is now. We know he’s one of the most naturally quick drivers on the grid, but you might as well put him in a soapbox at the moment judging by how fast the BMW is. An improvement, but an improvement to 11^th can’t put his mind too much at ease. 5/10

Nelson Piquet (12^th)
Crasher Piquet didn’t crash, and drove a solid – if uninspiring race – to finish where he did. However, it does look as though he’s happy to just coast round the track, but with Alonso – one of the most exciting and aggressive F1 drivers around – as team-mate, he isn’t going to look like Senna is he? The last two races haven’t been bad, but his likely replacement, Romain Grosjean, only went and took pole, a race victory and a second place in the GP2 round this weekend. News about as welcome as a kick to the head you feel. 5/10

Kazuki Nakajima (13^th)
‘Copy’ and ‘paste’ first sentence of Piquet’s report here. Pitted early after contact at the start, rejoined at the back, but drove a long, solid second stint to move up the order. End of the day though, he finished in 13^th. With only 14 runners at the end of the race. 4/10

Giancarlo Fisichella (14^th)
Qualified last, and was last in the race (out of the finishers). The Force India is not the fastest car out on the track at the moment – quite the opposite in fact – but you have to ask yourself whether the Italian is the right man to push this team forward. Personally, I think this is his last season. Here’s hoping he can go out with a bang. I.e. points, not an explosion. 3/10

Kimi Räikkönen (15^th – RET)
Some say he lacks motivation, but how can you have any motivation when your team doesn’t persuade you to set another time in Q1, to make sure you make it into Q2? Out he went in Q1, and then started the race complaining that his KERS wasn’t working. He seemed to be all the better for it though after making up six places in the opening racing laps. Oh, and he also couldn’t see the lights at the start because the new rear wings are so big. All this then his car came to a grinding halt on lap 18. You could argue that he should have made the call to go back out in Q1 but when you have this much bad luck on race day it doesn’t really matter at all. A sentiment I am sure Raikkonen shares. 6/10 (for making up places at the start) 1/10 (Ferrari’s management of the Finn) 10/10 (for bad luck)

Heikki Kovalainen (16^th – RET)
It wasn’t a day for the Finns was it? A lacklustre qualifying performance followed by gearbox failure. He seems very relaxed for a man that has been completely outperformed by his team-mate this season, even if he has admittedly only finished two races thanks to a healthy dose of bad luck. 3/10

Jarno Trulli (17^th – RET)
Nudged off by Rosberg at the start and then rejoined the track, facing sideways. Cue a pile up that took out all the drivers below. A racing incident but not what Toyota need. 1/10

Sébastien Buemi (18^th – RET)
Taken out on lap one. 1/10

Sébastien Bourdais (19^th – RET)
Taken out on lap one. 1/10 (Level of anguish at Toro Rosso after both cars need collecting on a truck after not even completing one lap? 10/10)

Adrian Sutil (20^th – RET)
Went wide at turn one, only to rejoin the track at turn two, into Trulli. Not really his fault but when you don’t even make it round one turn successfully… 0/10

On an unrelated note, did anyone notice that the podium looked quite, umm, ‘old’ this weekend? Button, Barrichello, Webber… A combined age of 97 must be some sort of a record in recent years.

1st: Sebastian Vettel
Having put his car on pole the German managed to keep the Brawns at bay and, despite atrocious conditions and safety cars, he drove brilliantly to his second career win. Escaped serious damage after Toro Rosso’s Buemi drove into the back of him, which goes to show just how much luck can play a part when it’s that wet. 9/10

2nd: Mark Webber
A career best for Webber who, although he was outdriven by his team-mate, managed to keep his car on the track – most of the time – and battled well with Button’s Brawn. 8/10

3rd: Jenson Button
Complained of severe grip problems after not getting any heat into the tyres, which meant that at some points he was weaving down the straight. Another solid race for Button, whose smooth style is just what’s needed when it’s this wet. A few mistakes, but overall a good weekend. 8/10

4th: Rubens Barrichello
Even though he has yet to outclass his team-mate in a Grand Prix this season Barrichello drove a solid, if a little uneventful, race. 7/10

5th: Heikki Kovalainen
Unlike Hamilton, Kovalainen drove a mature race and kept his car on the black stuff. Even if he didn’t have the speed that his team-mate showed on occasion, he will be satisfied with completing more than one lap of a Grand Prix, something that must have been starting to worry him a little. 7/10

6th: Lewis Hamilton
Got his car into Q3 for the first time this season and started well from ninth, storming through the field to fifth, only to spin off. He stormed through the field again, and then span off again… While he showed blistering pace his driving style means he doesn’t always conserve his tyres well. He complained of losing all grip on his front left after five laps, but he must accept some of the blame for that. Well done for pushing hard though – he had nothing to lose after all… 5/10

7th: Timo Glock
After starting 19th on the grid Glock drove smartly up the field, only for a clash with Heidfeld on lap 13 to delay him. He recovered well and despite meandering off course on a few occasions – something that you have to forgive drivers in weather like this – he clawed his way back up again. Although he is yet to do something spectacular, something tells me that he has a bright future ahead. 7/10

8th: Sebastien Buemi
The only rookie on the grid had a brilliant race, challenging Vettel for the drive of the day. He was lucky to escape after hitting the back of Vettel (who had slowed under yellow to avoid passing the car in front, which he thought was Barrichello but was in fact Trulli) but recovered well to another points-scoring finish. 8/10

9th: Fernando Alonso
Having put his car second on the grid with a light fuel load, the team decided to pull him in early after only seven laps – when the safety car was still out. He rejoined at the very back and with a full tank of fuel and zero visibility he struggled to work his way through the field. The Renault, however, was hardly the car of the day. Eventually made up ground, but a spin late meant he missed out on points when he was starting to show some real pace. 7/10

10th: Kimi Räikkönen
The Finn had real problems finding any grip at all and seemed to be going backwards at times. His team-mate had no such problems, but Räikkönen’s lack of speed was such that Hamilton overtook him on numerous occasions before spinning off again. Although he was classed fourth at one point he never worked his way back up the field after pitting. 5/10

11th: Sébastien Bourdais
His rookie team-mate showed that the Toro Rosso was one of the cars to have in the wet conditions, but Bourdais never looked like setting the world alight and spun so often that he never kept position. 5/10

12th: Nick Heidfeld
After a good start Heidfeld took over Webber’s mantel of the ‘unluckiest man of the day’, aquaplaning off the track, colliding with Glock on lap 13 and then being hit by one of Sutil’s wheels from the wreckage of his crash and losing four places as a result. 6/10

13th: Robert Kubica
Trulli was going so slowly it was inevitable that someone would drive into the back of him, and that someone was Kubica. The replacement wing fitted after that clash eventually worked loose, so he lost even more time pitting again. Kubica is a great driver but has had little to shout about so far this season – I suspect BMW will struggle to hold onto him if it can’t start to find some extra pace somewhere. 6/10

14th: Giancarlo Fisichella
Fisichella spent much of his time finding his way back onto the track and suffered severe graining problems with his tyres. Another sedate race for a man who can’t afford to keep being outdriven by his team-mate. 4/10

15th: Nico Rosberg
A day to forget for Rosberg who complained of severe visibility problems – something I would have thought most of the grid was suffering with… He did drive well, when he could see, but never really looked set to challenge. A late gamble on intermediates was a real long shot, but you’ve got to admire him for a least taking a punt. 5/10

16th: Nelsinho Piquet
Another dreadful day for Piquet. Again hugely outclassed by Alonso in qualifying and the race. He had to stop twice for a new nose after two huge spins and really doesn’t seem to have any positives to take away from the weekend. Another few races like this and his seat may not be safe for the rest of this season, let alone in 2010. 2/10

17th: Adrian Sutil
A good performance from the German, who was looking at a points finish until a spin and a big impact ended his race on lap 51. Another very disappointing outcome following a good strategy by the Force India team and a good drive. 6/10

18th: Kazuki Nakajima
Although he was unlucky to retire with transmission problems, he didn’t exactly make a huge impact when he was ‘on’ the track. Numerous spins and off-track excursions meant this was another weekend to forget. 4/10

19th: Felipe Massa
If Räikkönen’s speed was any measure of how fast the Ferrari was in these conditions, then Massa drove an absolute blinder. The Brazilian – often criticised for only being able to drive a good race from pole, or for not being able to drive in the wet (please see Silverstone 2008) – proved his critics wrong. A real shame that an electrical problem robbed him of his first points in 2009. 8/10

20th: Jarno Trulli
The Italian really struggled in the wet, complaining that he couldn’t get any grip and only lasted 13 laps before Kubica ploughed into the back of him. 5/10

So who started the season well? And who needs to up their game? I’ve gone through each driver and here’s what I think. Remember… it’s just a viewpoint!

Jenson Button (1st)
His car was the quickest on the grid, but he produced the goods when needed. He drove a solid race and only went a little awry during his second pitstop. A dream start for the man from Frome. 9/10

Rubens Barrichello (2nd)
After overshadowing his team-mate last season and in testing, the Brazilian faltered in the race and seemed to think his car was indestructible – luckily for him, on this occasion it was. Recovered well from a bad start, which the team was keen to point out was a mechanical problem, but ultimately wouldn’t have been on the podium if it weren’t for Masters Kubica and Vettel playing demolition derby in the final 10 minutes. 6/10

Lewis Hamilton (3rd)
Despite having one of the worst cars on the grid, Hamilton drove a quite brilliant race after starting from the back – thanks to a gearbox problem in qualifying – and stormed through the field. For me, the drive of the day. 9.5/10

Timo Glock (4th)
The German drove a mature race to finish fourth. Of course if it weren’t for the retirements of Vettel, Kubica and the demotion of team-mate Trulli, he wouldn’t have finished with so many points. However, you’d be hard pressed to argue that it wasn’t a successful day after starting from the pitlane and ending up with five points. 7/10

Fernando Alonso (5th)
Once again showed why he’s one of the most sought-after drivers on the grid by scoring points when his car really wasn’t worthy. Even if he did run wide in turn one, dropping him to the back… 8/10

Nico Rosberg (6th)
Pulled off the ‘manoeuvre of the afternoon’ on Räikkönen and posted fastest lap of the race. Struggled with the super soft compound tyre though. 8.5/10

Sébastien Buemi (7th)
A great first race for the only rookie on the grid. Stayed out of trouble and importantly beat his team-mate. 8/10

Sébastien Bourdais (8th)
The Frenchman had a disappointing afternoon, which he put down to his car “handling like a caravan”. Needs to dominate Buemi this season to keep his seat. 5/10

Adrian Sutil (9th)
Another strong performance, again outperforming his team-mate. Had to pit after an opening-lap collision but maintained a cool head to almost finish in the points. 6/10

Nick Heidfeld (10th)
Made a strong start (along with all the other KERS users) but had to pit for new tyres and wing after lap-one collision. Car just didn’t have the pace afterwards. 6/10

Giancarlo Fisichella (11th)
An embarrassing moment when he overshot his pit, which cost him a lot of time. Not one of the Italian’s finest hours. 5/10

Jarno Trulli (12th)
Almost a great race. Started in the pitlane and finished third, only to be told that he illegally overtook Hamilton under yellow. He will no doubt be back on the podium soon. 7.5/10

Mark Webber (13th)
Once again, the unluckiest man on the grid. Taken out of the reckoning in the first corner by Barrichello and struggled with the car thereafter. 6/10

Sebastian Vettel (14th)
A great performance up until the red mist came down and he tried to defend his place from Kubica. Admittedly the Pole didn’t give him much room. 7/10

Robert Kubica (15th)
Outdrove his team-mate and could possibly have robbed Button of victory at the end if it wasn’t for his collision with Vettel, which he should take equal blame for. 7/10

Kimi Räikkönen (16th)
In line for a second place if he hadn’t ended up embedded in the wall. A disappointing end after a good, if unexciting, race. 6/10

Felipe Massa (17th)
Lost a lot of ground with the super-soft tyres after the opening laps, pitted at the wrong time and then forced to retire. You could say he’s almost as lucky as Webber. 7/10

Nelsinho Piquet (18th)
Drove a strong race and looked set to finish in the points. However, a combination of cold tyres and brakes (and over-optimism) meant that he went straight on at turn one after the restart. 4/10

Kazuki Nakajima (19th)
Showed good pace up until he went wide at turn four and lost control, ending his race in the wall. He must stop making mistakes. 5/10

Heikki Kovalainen (20th)
Taken out at the first corner. Made a reasonable start though… 2/10

The Formula 1 circus has come to Monaco and so far, apart from a few gentle brushes with the walls, the whole grid has managed to complete the opening two practice sessions.

The forecast is for rain and what better race to have it at than Monaco, when none of the drivers have raced without traction control in the wet yet. If the promised rain does arrive, the race – I fear – will be won by the most level headed and cautious driver on the day.

Hamilton seems to love the circuit through the Principality and spent much of the day at the top of the sheets. Raikkonen did respond with a flurry of quick laps at the end of the first session and nudged the Brit from 1st place; however, Hamilton was even quicker in the next session and was only briefly knocked off the top of the sheets by Rosberg, who seems to be in great form in the Williams.

Piquet still seems to be struggling with the Renault – Alonso was 1.5 seconds quicker in P1 and then a second quicker in P2. Last year Briatore was very publicly vocal about Kovalainen taking time to get up to speed yet remains silent on Piquet’s pace. I doubt he is as relaxed as he looks but I suspect it is only a matter of time before the pressure of needing to perform further hampers the young Brazilian.

The McLarens do have the measure of the Ferraris for the time being, but as speculated the Scuderia is certainly not as far back as last year. As for the race – well, thanks to the overtaking possibilities in Monaco, much of the result depends on how the drivers do in qualifying. I would have thought, bar a problem or a mistake, Hamilton will take pole, with either one of the Ferraris or Kovalainen lining up alongside him.

However, with the likes of Rosberg showing the pace he is at the moment and the BMWs going well, I will no doubt be completely wrong. (When Hamilton does get pole I’ll delete this last sentence).
Practice 1

Practice 2

As expected the Ferraris seem to be roughly half a second quicker than the McLarens. Although the times are much closer than that, the long runs suggest that the Scuderia’s cars do hold a clear advantage. As for Hamilton’s time in P2, well… he went out right at the end and completed just the one flying lap so who knows how much fuel he had in.

The Renaults showed that their pace in Barcelona wasn’t a one-off with two strong sessions from Alonso and it’s good to see Red Bull up in the top 5. Webber clipped the grass early on in the second session which sent his car spinning into the barrier. The Australian was unhurt but the armco certainly did a pretty good job of short-wheel basing the car.

As for the rest, Kovalainen seemed to have left his sense of self-preservation in the hospital, as he was straight back on the pace. A quite remarkable feat considering he suffered a 26G crash less than two weeks ago. The BMWs don’t seem to be as close to McLaren as they have been promising but, as I said before, the practice times can be a little misleading.

So predictions for the Grand Prix on Sunday? Short of a breakdown or moment of madness from Raikkonen or Massa, the Ferraris look as though they could take another 1-2. As for the last place on the podium, I would have thought that both Hamilton and Kovalainen have the pace to take it.

Having bad mouthed the ITV F1 live feed the other week, I am pleased to say that it is vastly improved. Last time I watched something on there I spent an hour and a half staring at a frozen screen with snippets of flying laps sped up a hundred times so that the ‘feed’ could catch up again. However, its gremlins seem to be cured and you can now sit back and soak up the sound of the V8s. Whether this was down to me and my blog, I very much doubt, but it is now a pretty good place to catch the practice sessions.

Practice 1

Practice 2

So the European season has begun. Almost all 22 cars completed the two Friday practices without incident and the Ferraris look like they are the pace setters at the moment. The Scuderia occupied the top two spots in the opening practice and were just under half a second quicker than Hamilton. Massa managed (after I had said that his ‘moments’ would become less frequent from Bahrain onwards) to spin twice, once at the chicane on his flying lap and then on the exit of turn 8 later on in the first practice.

The most interesting part of the two opening practice sessions? Well in the first, a second covered the first 4 cars and in the second, it covered a quite remarkable 12 cars. Indeed, if you ignore the Super Aguris, all the cars were within two seconds of Räikkönen’s fastest time. It may surprise you even more that in the second Friday practice in the French Grand Prix last year, the top 15 cars set times within 1 second of each other. And they say Formula 1 isn’t interesting…

On the subject of Super Aguris, it is great to see them on track as up until today they were still in talks with Honda over whether or not they could actually compete this weekend. With the rule changes next year, the Japanese manufacturer has made it quite clear that they aren’t prepared to keep shelling out inordinate amounts of money to keep Aguri Suzuki afloat. After one possible backer dropped out at the last minute the team is again looking for a sponsor. Let’s hope that they find one otherwise this may well be one of the last times we see them on the Grand Prix circuit.

I was actually quite surprised to see them leave the garage this morning as competing over a race weekend amounts to what us mere mortals would consider a cash bonfire. Of course, they don’t want to miss out on the money they receive for competing in a Grand Prix.

As for the rest… The Renaults certainly looked quick in the second session but watching the onboard footage it looked as though both drivers were pushing pretty hard. Whether they can keep that sort of pace up over the whole weekend, I doubt. Force India, after saying mid-week that they are ready to get into Q3, have taken another step forward with strong finishes in the second session.

Whether all the teams were actually trying to set quick times, I am not convinced. I suggest that the Ferraris are going to be hard to beat come Sunday and the McLarens seem to have the edge over the BMWs for the time being.

The good news for all of you is that Nigel Roebuck is getting ready to write his first www.motorsportmagazine.co.uk Grand Prix Report and will share his views with us, here, after the race on Sunday. For a far more insightful and interesting read… log back on, Sunday evening and go via the ‘Grand Prix Reports’ link on the homepage to read it.

Practice 1

Practice 2

Many people have recently been doing the time-honoured British press ritual of slamming one of our sporting heroes when he puts a foot wrong. Lewis Hamilton had an absolute shocker in Bahrain; there is no arguing that, but does he really deserve the press he’s been getting?.

The fact that he had a bad race doesn’t mean that he is on the brink of a mental collapse. Yes, Kovalainen is going about his business and perhaps Hamilton didn’t think he would be quite so consistent, quite so quickly. Yes, the McLaren is suddenly not such a force to be reckoned with. But are we not forgetting that these drivers have spent the whole of their lives dealing with such situations?

As Massa showed in Bahrain, however much pressure is put onto their shoulders; most Formula 1 drivers have the mental and physical ability to block out all the nonsense and get on and do what they do best – driving fast.

Hamilton was never going to walk the 2008 Championship. That much was clear near the end of last year when the Ferraris got quicker and quicker. And indeed when the BMWs revealed their true pace in Australia. So why are we all so worried that Hamilton is 5 points behind at the moment? Taken out of context, for a man in his second Formula 1 season, that’s not bad.

I can’t talk too much as I did also ask a few weeks ago whether Massa was up to the job. Of course, he went on to win the next race. But that has at least made me think – these guys spend their whole life training for this type of pressure. OK, Hamilton has a tendency to make bad situations worse when things start to go wrong but I definitely wouldn’t count him out yet.

I wouldn’t have thought that anyone at McLaren would be happy being shown up by both Ferrari and BMW and they’ll be doing everything in their power to gain an extra edge. As will Hamilton. Is Hamilton up to the task? I certainly think so. The season is just beginning.

Well, Massa needed a win, or at the very least a strong performance with all four wheels staying firmly on the Tarmac, and he delivered. From when the red lights went out he dominated a fairly uneventful race for the two Ferrari cars and finished over three seconds ahead of his Finnish team-mate.

He has a good record in Bahrain, having won there last year ahead of Hamilton and Raikkonen, but the fact that he managed to drive such a dominant race after so much criticism was a testament to his mental and driving ability. I am not saying he is cured of his moments – but if he can drive like this for the rest of the reason, they will be forgotten by many.

As for the McLarens, Hamilton had yet another disastrous race. He was extremely slow off the line, his car looking as though he tried to draw away in 3rd, and dropped back to 10th place. He then slammed into the back of Alonso and consequently had to pit for a new nose cone. With the rest of his race hampered by a heavy fuel load and traffic he came home a disappointing 13th.

His team-mate, however, drove an undramatic race to finish 5th. It is obvious that the BMWs are quicker than the McLarens now (or at least in Bahrain) and hopefully for the Woking-based squad they will have found more speed from somewhere, come the European season. If not, they will be the ‘BMWs of 2008′ – the team that is relying on others not to finish in order to score good points and finish on the podium. Something that none of them would accept.
But well done Kovalainen, he may not have the raw pace of Hamilton but his lows are much higher than Hamilton’s when things go wrong. Something that, come Australia, may well count towards beating his team-mate in the Championship standings.

The BMWs both looked strong with Kubica finishing 3rd, and Heidfeld only three and a half seconds behind him. They have had a remarkable start to the season – lets hope they can continue competing for the podium. They certainly have one of the strongest driver line-ups on the grid.