My Motorsport Blog

Both Sebastian Vettel and Michael are confident about the Hockenheim event and Michael admit that they have a “package” that do not perform as well as the Red Bull or even McLaren. He said he will fight for the 8th World Championship title in 2011 and Ross Brawn can deliver the goods as we have seen in the past. I wonder if the Schumacher critics will eat humble pie next year for saying he is too old for the game. Other German drivers that would like to perform well would be Adrian Sutil, Nico Rosberg, Nico Hulkenberg and Timo Glock.

I believe the fight for 2010 Drivers Championship will be between the four top runners with little to choose between Hamilton, Buttons, Webber and Vettel. I still say Sebastian Vettel will win the Championship in 2010. This will depend on Mark Webber getting his head out of you know where and drive for the Red Bull team not Mark Webber.

Harsh as this might be but I do believe Mark will be the one to stop Sebastian from reaching his goal at all cost even by undermining Sebastian on the track. As I have said before and I will stand by it, Mark does drive well and does earn the points he has at the moment but he should take lessons from the McLaren team and leave some leeway and space for Sebastian to race in. I believe he has cost Red Bull, Sebastian and himself points because of un-sportsman like behaviour.

Silverstone must be living proof that F1 cars can pass one another and it would have been a great race if the stewards and Nigel Mansell did not put their grubby paws in the pot and penalise Alonso for not giving a place back to Robert Kubica in a car that fell out of the race in any case and Robert Kubica even said on the team radio that he had car problems. The reality was that Alonso could have chased the leaders down and the Ferrari’s potential was proven by getting the fastest lap of the race at  1:30.874 which makes him the record holder for this circuit if I am not mistaken. Well I hope Hockenheim delivers as good a performance as we saw in Silverstone.

So what is known about this track in Canada? It’s fast!!!  And most drivers agree on that. A concern would be that this track has broken up before and I wonder if it will happen again? The weather forecast is “Kinda” gloomy with mist, cloud and rain being predicted for the weekend which means Mercedes Benz might find tyre temperatures a problem. We know the Brawn cars like hot and warm weather to ensure good grip.

 Red Bull has some concerns as well and Ferrari still lacks speed which is surprising. The “Bling” team of Button and Hamilton will be fast but will we see that Renault of Kubica showing its nose after today’s second practise round. What about our man Kobayashi in the Sauber could he be a dark horse in the running to make or spoil some one’s day?

Well I looked at some ultra slow footage and you can see Mark Webber moving closer to Vettel once Vettel appears next to Mark. A gap of about 6 inches shows quite clearly on Vettel’s left front tyre to the white line on the race track, Sebastian then has to move closer to the edge of the track as Mark pushes closer and ends up right on the white line. At this stage Sebastian’s right rear wheel hit Marks front left and that is what makes the incident appear to be Sebastian’s fault. Sorry Mark, you Martin and David were wrong in your assessments. Eddie Irvine also sees this as for what it was and that is that Mark did not give Sebastian enough space.

At least that made the racing a little more exciting when Jenson and Lewis started racing one another on lap 48 but pity they were told to back off. We are continually commenting that F1 is getting boring and when we have passes attempted everybody freaks out about an accident. I say bring it on and let the boy’s race.

Also notable will be the progress Michael is making after his long absence from F1, suddenly Rosberg are having issues and the age old comments about Michael getting preference treatment start again. Martin Brundle stated the correct facts in that the benefits of the longer chassis benefit both drivers equally; maybe Rosberg does not adjust to changes as easily as Michael does. I am a “Shumi” man and proud of it.

I also happen to be a Ferrari supporter and at the moment quite concerned about the progress or lack of progress they are showing on the racetrack. At this stage Renault appears to have made good progress and Robert Kubica is really showing good form.

So the qualifying in Monaco have finished and bar the fact that Robert Kubica qualified second on the grid I am not really surprised at the front runners. Would Fernando Alonso have made a difference? I am not sure.

Now we get back to the Monaco cancer!!!!! ………..did Massa hold Jenson back and why does Michael Schumacher say Nico Rosberg held him back? All of this may be fact but unless the qualifying format in F1 changes drivers will have to cope with traffic. Sorry Jenson and Michael but other drivers do share your lot. Go back to a pole shootout format but with all the cars in the field. This will increase the spectator value on Saturdays and might make for better racing. Oh I know it does not represent the true racing conditions but then why do you have blue flags out in practice or qualifying.

F1 has become boring. In most cases we have little passing unless it happens in the back field which the TV does not cover or we pray and hope for rain to add to the F1 value. Over the past few years we have had tyre changes and refuelling to make it more exiting, yes we currently have tyre changes and heavy fuel loads but guys the cars do not pass one another on the track and that is what we want to see.

Give me a driver with very little electronic assistance, raw speed, lots of guts and I will say you have F1 racing. To hell with the aerodynamics, get rid of the diffusers and let’s go racing. Why not throw in a boost button for overtaking but please just do something and soon.

Oh! I would like to start a prize fund for the first manufacturer to developing and race a diesel engine for F1 and then finish on the podium within the first 5 races. Any takers on this, no self profit intended.

If I could I would patent this because I believe it is a route that needs to be taken. It is said Max Mosley that said we have to have the noise and thunder but then he always liked a “big bang”!  Well, I agree with the noise and thunder but reality says I would love to see a “Silent Assassin” on the track in the form of an “Auto Union”. Now that Mercedes Benz has returned that will be a race!!!!!!!!!!!!

“APPALLING” is what Eddie Jordan said about Ferrari and McLaren’s decision to sit in the pits and wait for better weather and track conditions. I say they received their just deserve by Jenson starting 17th, Alonso 19th and Hamilton and Massa in 20th and 21st respectively. This will ensure that fans see some very interesting and exiting opening laps, and, I hope they can stay out of trouble in the first few corners or we will have  a major change to the Championship point standings by the end of Sunday. Hopefully all the teams will take note of the risk they run by not getting a “Banker lap time”  as Eddie Jordan described it.

In the past teams have been on the receiving end of similar set backs in qualifying due to accidents or mechanical failures. If predictions that have been made in the past come true the fight for the drivers World Championship position will be a serious contest between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. I am not a great supporter of Webber but he has been phenomenal on the track. If Mark could only realise that he needs to stay calm and not take silly risks he will be breathing down Sebastian Vettels neck all the time. I would love to put my money on Sebastian Vettel but the Red Bull just does not have the reliability at the moment. The Red Bull cars have the best opportunity to get serious points before the rest of the field catch up or their opportunities will fade away. Ross Brawn and Mercedes GP will be contesting pole and the podium positions soon and time is running out for Ferrari and Red Bull.  

If we have a wet race tomorrow as predicted Ferrari and McLaren will rue the descision to stay in the pits when they could have been putting in qualifying times in the first outing. Nico Hulkenberg, Robert Kubica and Kamui Kobayashi will not be intimidated by the world champions in this formula and will ensure that each point will be hard fought for. I am thus sure that we will see Red Bull in a podium position but will we have Adrian Sutil making things difficult for the front runners?