My Motorsport Blog

The “Chiefs” have owned up and said Lewis was not to blame and for posterity I would say lets get this over and done with and race for a new season.

McLaren now really need to get its act together because the British fans will not allow this to continue! Guys the stewards are listening on the radio channels so be careful of the “Big Smokey Bear” Lewis also needs to drop his “better than thou” attitude and realise that he has a race and the championship to win. Can they pull this off? Eat humble pie, get this over and done with and win races.

The media says in the final analysis;

“Hamilton and McLaren team manager Dave Ryan explicitly denied that any instruction was given to let Trulli past.

The recording of the radio transmissions reveals that Hamilton was told to cede the place back to Trulli and quickly responded to the instruction – although McLaren continued to seek clarification of the situation from FIA race director Charlie Whiting and Hamilton asked whether he would be able to repass the Toyota.

A second audio recording confirms that Hamilton told journalists immediately after the race – before the stewards’ meeting – that he had been told to let Trulli through.”

Right, it went wrong!! Really wrong!!! Now since this happens to be the first race of the year, let’s be reasonable and start racing.  If there is one thing I have learnt in motorsport it is that there will never be full agreement to any dispute.

The circuit is 5.543Km or 3.444 miles in length, 10 right hand corners and 5 left. The lap record is held by Juan Pablo Montoya with a time lap time of 1:34,223. The Ferrari’s had a one-two position on the grid in 2008 and Kimi Räikkönen won the race with Robert Kubica and Heikki Kovalainen second and third respectively.

The circuit is of course Sepang, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and at this stage we could be in for a storm……NO!!!! I actually do mean a storm. The weather forecasts for Saturday and Sunday show thunder showers so this link will help you monitor the situation. However, we have a new team and they do not seem interested in the weather or taking prisoners and want to win. I am referring to Brawn GP and they could repeat their Australian performance in Sepang if the car handles well in the wet.

I do not really want to speculate about this because the cars are completely different from last year but we know that Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams have an advantage with their respective aero-packages. I am however tempted to say that Brawn GP will feature in the top 5 this weekend. Looking at the results of 2008 in which Räikkönen won, followed by Robert Kubica, Kovalainen, Trulli, Hamilton, Heidfeld, Webber and Alonso. To these I would gladly add the names of Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa as potential front runners.

Nick Heidfeld still holds the fastest lap at this circuit but he will have to make sure he qualifies well. It would have been great to see Sebastian Vettel in this pack but with the penalty he received in Australia it will be a hard day’s work in the “office” for the young man. Looking at this picture of Nick and Robert I do wonder what it is with F1 drivers and the “fluff” on their faces? We really need Wilkinson to add some sponsorship to this formula.

Looking at comments made by team and driver previews on the official F1 site it would appear that they have not looked at the weather forecast and this includes Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone director of motorsport tyre development because they are all concerned about the heat in Sepang. Granted Hirohide did mention the later start time and rain.

I believe the decision to start later at these circuits were wrong as the changes in track temperature and the setting sun were commented on in Australia by several drivers. It does make the race more exiting though.

So Lewis Hamilton complained about scoring, I can see why, he won the 2008 championship by one point coasting around fifth place in Brazil and expected the paying spectators to be happy with his performance……Get real Lewis!!! I have no doubt the young man has potential and the right to be world champion which he has earned but his attitude leaves a lot to be desired and as everybody knows he is not exactly the number one favourite in the pit lane. Oh well the rules have changed yet again and will be introduced in 2010….or NOT!

The good news is that FIA “Ill Presidente” Max Mosley will be looking to reduce the super licence fee in 2010, wow!!! Max, can you afford this and what happened to your comments about drivers leaving Formula One if they do not like the new increases? What made him change his mind and what will the reduction be if any at all? Does he have any connections with Gordon Brown?