BlackBerry issues - The funny jokes

TROUBLE: The BlackBerry has had a number of issues in the last three days

ONE of the most popular smartphones has suffered three days of constant signalling problems, which has led to a major crash around the world.  Parts of Europe, the US, Asia, Canada and South America have suffered from the crash of the BlackBerry servers.  BBM, e-mails and internet on all phones stopped working, with a crash on the servers seems to be the problem.  Although all systems seem to be back to normal today, many customers want compensation for the trouble and some took to Twitter to raise their frustrations and come up with enough jokes, it could become a no.1 joke selling book for Christmas.  Here is a selection of my favourites;  

what did one #blackberry user say to the other #blackberryuser.....nothing.....so not funny!!!

Dear #blackberry: Thanks for the help! Love, Apple and Android

I have a #BlackBerry, but it doesn't work. The equipment's there, but it's useless. This must be what it feels like to have a vasectomy.

I love you #Blackberry - but if you continue to stop me BBM communicating with my sons, we're so, like, OVER.

"In honor of Steve Jobs, #Blackberry has decided to have a few hours of silence."

Tribute to Steve Jobs, #Blackberry celebrates him with a week of silence. Respect.

#Blackberry's are like elephants : nice to look at, but you wouldn't really want to own one.

#Blackberry down again, Looks like Steve Jobs has reached heaven and turned off the Blackberry server!

what did the iPhone say to the blackberry? iWork. (;

TIP: Turn your iPhone into a Blackberry by selecting Airplane Mode.

Dear Blackberry, what is a keypad? LOL! Sincerely, Apple.

I have a Blackberry and the fault is annoying but reading Twitter you'd think it was equal to the Ethiopian famine #getagripeveryone

How many blackberry users does it take to change a lightbulb? None. If they wanted to see the light, they'd change their phones first.

Today, iPhone owners are luaghing at Blackberry owners and Blackberry owners are laughing at iPhone owners.  I'm laughing at all of you. #HTC

What happened to the days when a blackberry was just a little tasty fruit. Sigh.

The UEFA Europa League - Is there any point in it?

By Simon Wright (Personal viewpoint)

EUROPE’s second premier club competition began last night, as the third edition of the UEFA Europa League returned.  However, is there any prestige in this competition for let’s be honest; the second-rate sides in European club football.

     The UEFA Europa League made its debut on the football scene in the 2009/10 season, following the decision to restructure the even worse UEFA Cup.  Back in the 90s, there were three European competitions, which were merged into two in 1999, when the Cup Winners Cup was ditched.  The old UEFA Cup format had an opening first round, a tedious and pathetic second group phase where losing two of your four group matches was normally okay to progress, then more knockout football until a predictably drab final.  British success in this competition was fairly normal though, with Liverpool winning it in 2001 following that amazing 5-4 final against Alaves in Dortmund.  Both Celtic and Middlesbrough made it all the way to the final and if it wasn’t for UEFA Cup glory in 2003, the name Jose Mourinho would still largely have been unheard of. 

     The new format of the Europa League does make the competition a bit more entertaining to watch, despite the demanding schedule.  Four qualifying rounds are followed by 48 teams proceeding into a typical group stage.  Twelve groups of four teams, with the sides competing playing each other home and away, like the Champions League.  After Christmas, the 24 sides that ended first and second go into the third round, joined by the eight ‘lucky losers’ who finished third in their UEFA Champions League groups.  From there on, knockout football takes place until the final at the beginning of May, which this year, will be held in Bucharest, Romania.  The final play-off round this year saw the likes of AS Roma, Sevilla, Panathinaikos and Palermo knocked out before even reaching the group phase; teams you would expect to be around in the final reckoning.

    This season, Britain will be represented by five sides.  After winning the Carling Cup in February, Birmingham City enter Europe, despite playing in the Npower Championship.  After reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season, Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham start rightfully as favourites.  Two years after their historic run to the final in Hamburg under Roy Hodgson, Fulham are back in the Europa League, with Martin Jol in charge.  Stoke City embark on their first continental campaign in over 40 years, a fitting reward for their run to the FA Cup final last season.  Finally, Celtic earnt a reprieve into the competition, after the side that beat them in the final playoff round; FC Sion, were expelled for fielding ineligible players against the Scottish side.  However, it wasn’t a great start for the British teams last night in the opening set of fixtures.  Celtic lost 2-0 to Atletico Madrid, Fulham were held 1-1 at home by dangerous Dutch side FC Twente, Birmingham got soundly beaten 3-1 at home by last year’s uninspiring runners-up Sporting Braga, Tottenham escaped with a 0-0 draw from Greece against PAOK Salonika and Stoke held Dynamo Kiev to a 1-1 stalemate in the Ukraine, coming so close to a historic win.

     With the extra demand on playing Thursday nights and Sunday afternoons every fortnight, most Premiership managers will see it being a poisoned chalice rather than a reward to play in the UEFA Europa League and I can’t blame them.  For example, my team Liverpool missed out on European football this season for the first time since 2000.  Although the club won’t get any of those special Euro evenings at Anfield, lose a bit of income from television revenue and ticket sales, it is predicted that Kenny Dalglish will see a major benefit for not being in an extra competition which, providing going all the way, will consist of another 20 matches!  Not only does it mean that Liverpool can focus more on the domestic cup competitions, but it provides a far clearer run than say Tottenham in the fight for fourth place in the Premiership. 

     Despite the added demand, I’m disappointed that many clubs, not just English ones don’t treat the competition with the respect it does deserve.  Once you are in it, you should do what you can to win it and it can provide memorable moments for the fans.  The UEFA Europa League is the perfect competition to blood some of the youngsters in your squad into battle.  Harry Redknapp has sent this message across already, by controversially leaving the gifted Rafael van der Vaart out of his 25-man Europa squad until the knockout stages at the earliest.  Although I admire Harry’s determination to play the youngsters, he hasn’t got the right balance.  After all, the fans and TV viewers want to see the likes of Bale, Lennon, van der Vaart, Defoe and Modric – not Livermore, Kane, Obika and Cudicini.  Youth policy has worked in this competition before.  Chris Smalling would never got his move to Manchester United had he not featured for Fulham in the early stages of the 2009/10 competition and Hodgson used the group stages to gives the likes of Martin Kelly, Jonjo Shelvey and Jay Spearing a chance in Liverpool’s first team last season; without compensating for a swift early exit too.  I love to see youth given a go, but it is frustrating to see some treat it better than others and that leads me to the question; if you don’t want to take it seriously, don’t bother qualifying for it.

     This season’s competition does have the likes of Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Lisbon, Schalke 04 and PSG – but they aren’t the Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and AC Milan of today’s world.  I think UEFA have found the right balance and don’t need to make swift changes to the UEFA Europa League.  It works well but should be taken far more seriously.  Otherwise, you have to question its general worth.  Channel Five don’t bite!

The Finishing Straight - Europe (by HappyDude88)

AFTER the thriller in Canada, it was always going to be difficult to follow for any circuit on the calendar, let alone the most dullest and pointless track of the season.  The European Grand Prix in Valencia produced its usual lacklustre affair, and although there was some intense fighting down the field and the frontrunners stayed in close formation throughout, there was a lack of show stopping drama that the fans have been expecting throughout the season.

VIABLE: Alonso has been great for Spain, but are two races viable now?

    I think it is time for Bernie Ecclestone to consider the future of having two races in Spain.  There can be no doubt of Fernando Alonso’s impact on the sport and the massive adrenalin it has on the Spanish fans.  However, there are currently 21 races on the 2011 calendar, and presuming Bahrain returns next season, a race will have to go.  Istanbul remains the favourite, due to its lack of promotion, but do we really need two events in Spain?  We only have one in Germany; and it seems like that has sorted out the financial difficulties of both Hockenheim and the Nurburgring.  I honestly think Spain should follow suit.  Valencia may be a beautiful place to visit and the weather is gorgeous, but the race circuit looks like a supermarket car park, not a high-class venue.  I think it’s pretty shameful when you think of the world-class facilities in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai and the top circuits such as Suzuka and Spa. 

     The championship race is all over bar the shouting after Sebastian Vettel’s dominant weekend in Valencia.  Questions were raised by the media after Vettel’s last lap slip-up in Canada last time out, but he answered all those doubters in stunning and flawless fashion.  Once he got into the first corner first, there was little doubt that Sebastian was going to win the race.  Scary to think that if he had been on the right tyre strategy in China and not made that error in Montreal, he could have easily won all eight races so far this season.  He looks almost impossible to beat and if Mr. Optimistic himself, Alonso has ruled himself out of catching the German, you can understand why everyone else has him down as a double world champion now.  The engraving of his name might as well begin now.  In fact, give him the championship now; he doesn’t need to wait until the annual FIA Gala dinner in Monaco before Christmas to collect his prize!

     Arguably, they have had the fastest car in the last three races, but McLaren’s race pace went missing in Valencia.  It became a familiar theme in the race; Lewis Hamilton would pit early, set some searing quick lap times and then fade away with poor grip levels from the option Pirelli tyres.  In the end, Lewis salvaged fourth, whilst Jenson Button was a lonely sixth, losing a load of time behind Nico Rosberg in the early exchanges.  Both drivers seemed disheartened afterwards and a radically improved Ferrari was not on their gameplan.  Silverstone will offer a fair reflection on the pecking order and with Red Bull so far infront, the Woking team won’t want to drop behind Ferrari too.

UNWANTED: At least Karthikeyan now has a place in the records!

     On Sunday morning, I predicted that all 24 cars that started the European Grand Prix would finish the race and I was proven right.  I wonder how Narain Karthikeyan feels to finish 24^th in a Grand Prix!  It is only the third time this has happened in the sport’s history (discounting the six-car farce that was the 2005 US Grand Prix.)  Technology has improved radically and reliability is now incredible.  However, I do agree with Jarno Trulli’s viewpoint that it is becoming a bit too robotic now.  If a car retires now, I almost react with shock!  The days of 10/11 cars finishing races are well and truly over now.  Of course, we all want the drivers to be safe and well and no serious accidents, but I miss the spectacular engine blow-ups, the shearing of driveshafts and the explosive clutch failures.  Retirements from races should be part and parcel of the game and maybe FOTA need to look into this, especially if drivers like Trulli have these viewpoints.

     Two drivers who I was delighted to see in the points in Valencia were Jaime Alguesuari and Adrian Sutil.  Alguesuari made a two stop strategy work to perfection and finished a fighting eighth, matching his best career result.  For the third consecutive race, he went out in Q1, but more performances in the race like this will mean that Daniel Riccardo’s chance at Toro Rosso will have to wait.  It’s interesting to see that Alguesuari is now ahead of Sebastian Buemi in the drivers’ championship, despite Buemi outperforming him on a regular basis this season.  Sutil has also had a tricky season, with personal problems and the possibility of a court case hanging over him, following a nightclub incident after the Chinese Grand Prix in April.  However, he looked up for it on the streets of Valencia and for the first time this season, led the way in the Force India team, having been overshadowed all season by the plucky Paul di Resta.

     Mercedes GP had another dismal weekend and having looked threatening in China and Turkey to the frontrunners, the team has fallen behind the top three teams again by a considerable distance.  Although they are pulling away from the likes of Renault and Sauber, the gap is increasing between themselves and Ferrari.  Rosberg finished seventh, which was the best he could hope for.  Finishing 100 seconds behind race winner Vettel tells its own story.  After his Canadian exploits, Michael Schumacher made another rash overtaking attempt on Vitaly Petrov, and as in Turkey, came off worse.  Michael admitted fault after the race, although Ross Brawn seemed to hint that it was Petrov’s fault.  Sorry Ross, but what do you expect Petrov to do, drive into the barriers or vanish into thin air!  Heavy rear tyre wear is Mercedes real issue and it seems like a problem that won’t go away for them, definitely in the short-term.

     Finally, time to give out my Driver of the Weekend and Driver of the Day awards.  Vettel is the clear winner of Driver of the Weekend, whilst I give Alguesuari the nod over Vettel and Alonso for Driver of the Day.  Hopefully, the hustle buzz of F1 2011 will return at the British Grand Prix next week.

NOTE: DUE TO AN IMPENDING WORK PLACEMENT IN LONDON, THERE WILL NO FINISHING STRAIGHT BLOG FOR THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX DUE TO A LACK OF TIME.  THE SILVERSTONE WEEKEND WILL HAVE JUST A RACE REPORT.  I WILL RETURN FOR THE GERMAN GRAND PRIX AT THE NURBURGRING WITH A RACE REPORT, FINISHING STRAIGHT BLOG AND MY HALF-TERM DRIVERS REPORT.   

Sony ends the cassette Walkman era

JAPANESE electronics giant Sony has closed a prestigious chapter in technological history, as it recently finished production of its groundbreaking Walkman.  It is now likely to be stored into museums as precious exhibits.

Sony has confirmed that the last models of the Walkman in Japan were shipped out in April this year, and no more will made.  To meet the required orders from Europe and Asia, the final productions will be made from a factory in China, though this is only thought to be a short-term measure.

The Walkman stepped upto the global scene in 1979, and has been a major success for Sony, with only the PlayStation’s birth in 1995 has come anywhere close to being a major sales figure for the giant.  Worldwide, over 200million walkmans have been sold, but as time and technology has gone on, so the Walkman has begun to age.  First, it was overtaken by the portable CD player, then the mini-disc player and lastly the MP3/I-Pod generation, which hit the headlines back in 2001.

It may look bulky to many now, but the Walkman was a pioneering piece of electronic kit, at a time when technological advances were far slower than what they are in today’s world.  Some ‘vintage’ editions have been sold on for thousands of pounds, and despite lacking the features of today’s music players; the Walkman has made its impact and with it, provided many fans and memories.

It may be out-of-date and soon to be out of production, but the Walkman’s legacy on our technology world will never be forgotten.

Pakistan's Devastating Floods

Recently, relief agencies confirmed that more than 16million people have been affected by the traumatic flooding that has engulfed Pakistan.  It is estimated that more than 1,500 lives have been lost in the disaster, since the monsoon struck Pakistan at the beginning of August.

650,000 homes have been destroyed across 51,000 square miles and now there is severe danger that disease could spread across the homeless, especially as clean water and other supplies are running thin.  More heavy rain has been forecast, in the country’s worst flooding in its sixty-three year history.  Helicopters carrying emergency aid have struggled to reach those who have been affected, due to further storms.  Many are now living in makeshift tents and crowded public buildings.

Criticism has been laid severely on the country’s Prime Minister Raza Yusuf Gilani.  Although he has addressed the nation and is attempting to make up for his slow initial action, there have still been widespread calls for him to step-down.  When the floods were at their worst, Gilani continued his tour of Europe and has even been in the UK during the crisis to meet David Cameron.  Even though he was attempting to fix strained international relations with many European countries, he should have been there at a horrendous time for his country, as they struggled on their own to deal with the flooding.

Many troops have been brought in to rebuild bridges and set-up emergency relief camps.  However, many locals are angry that more is not being done.  Britons have donated over £5million so far to the crisis and more has been urged as the country attempts to recover from the devastation.

My thoughts are with all of those affected by the floods and I hope things can recover as soon as possible for those who have suffered.  However, it is going to take a lot of rebuilding and togetherness for this to happen. 

2010 European Grand Prix - The Conclusions

In this piece, I will be assessing ten key features from each Grand Prix weekend from the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.  The halfway stage of F1 2010 has now been reached, with an unusually dramatic race around the tedious streets of Valencia, home of the European Grand Prix.  So, this is the round-up of Round 9, as Red Bull really does give you wings!

APOLOGISES FOR ANYONE WHO WAS WAITING FOR THE CONCLUSIONS FOR CANADA, I WAS TOO BUSY TO PUBLISH A PIECE ON THAT WEEKEND. 

Miraculous Outcome At 190mph – How Mark Webber Cheated Death?

It is Lap nine of the European Grand Prix and Mark Webber is languishing in 18^th position, after a shocking start and an early pitstop, which was delayed by a sticky wheel nut.  He is approaching the Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen, who is minding his own business, circulating five seconds off the pace.  Cue one of Formula One’s miraculous outcomes.  Webber slipstreams Kovalainen, who breaks for the corner, 80 metres before the Aussie intended him to do so, largely because of the incapability of the Lotus, rather than the Finn’s nervousness.  In an instant, the Red Bull was launched into the air, missed a DHL advertising hoarding by millimetres, barrel rolled once and then careered off the road at almost unabated speed into the tyre barriers.  Despite initial concerns about his legs, Webber was shaken, but suffered no serious injuries and is ready to go for Silverstone next week.  It was a racing incident that can happen at the heat of battle, though some are questioning why Kovalainen was even defending a position he was never going to hold onto for long.  There is no doubt that Mark Webber cheated death last Sunday.

Sebastian Vettel – Championship Aspirations Back On Track

It has been a rocky road for Sebastian Vettel in recent weeks, following the crash with his team-mate Webber in Turkey, then an uncharacteristically quiet weekend in Canada.  He was under pressure to deliver in Europe and he managed to answer all the critics, with a measured and dominant performance.  He beat Webber in qualifying for the first time since China, and on Sunday, despite constant pressure from Lewis Hamilton, was untroubled from start-to-finish.  This was an almost perfect weekend, which puts his championship aspirations firmly back on track. 

Fernando Alonso – Sour Grapes!

Sunday was a very frustrating day for Fernando Alonso, and that is becoming a very familiar tone in 2010.  After starting fourth on the grid, Alonso was a strong third in the early exchanges and hassling Hamilton, who was nursing damage from a first lap skirmish with Vettel.  The Safety Car changed it completely and Fernando was forced to do a full lap behind the pace car, before pitting, whereas Hamilton did a lap at racing speed before entering the pits.  He was furious at Lewis’s driving, though he must be questioned about his own performance.  He basically allowed Kamur Kobayashi to overtake him in the closing stages, which confirmed Alonso had an off-day and his mind was not on the job in hand.  He will need a win very soon to stay firmly in the title battle.

Mercedes GP – Moving Backwards, Not Forwards!

When Ross Brawn shook his head, after realising that Mercedes GP had cocked up once again on strategy, and ruined Michael Schumacher’s afternoon in the process, it summed up the German’s team and their diabolical weekend.  A new upgrade took the team backwards, not forwards.  Two races ago, they were ahead of Ferrari, but now, they have been overtaken by Renault and are coming under pressure from Force India on a regular basis.  Schumacher was nearly eliminated in Q1, and hobbled by brake issues, could only manage 15^th on the grid.  Birthday boy Nico Rosberg only did marginally better, starting 12^th.  He earned one point in the stewards’ room, when Pedro de la Rosa was penalised five seconds for going too fast under Safety Car regulations, but it was a miserable weekend to forget.  Knowing Ross, it won’t be long before he abandons development on 2010 and switches focus to 2011.

Felipe Massa – Must Improve His Form

Though Alonso had an off-day, Felipe Massa is having too many of these in 2010.  He produced another lacklustre display in Valencia, on a track where he dominated in 2008, his only previous visit here.  A clumsy spin on Friday lost him critical track time, so to qualify only 0.1 behind Alonso in 5^th showed slow signs of progress on Saturday.  Sunday was a different story however.  He may have been unlucky in having to queue behind Alonso under the Safety Car, which relegated him to 17^th.  However, he got stuck behind Vitantonio Liuzzi and didn’t even look like he wanted to pass him.  It was another dismal showing and that strong opening 2^nd place in Bahrain, must seem like an age ago.  Many in the paddock are wondering why he just got a two-year deal at Maranello for consistently dismal showings.  Perhaps his Hungary crash last year has psychologically damaged him more than he wants us to know about.

Lotus, Virgin & Hispania – Another Tough Day at the Office for Them

Another race, another tough day for the three new teams or as BBC pundit David Coulthard refers them to as: Class B!  Having made slow steps towards the midfield in Montreal, Lotus dropped off again in Valencia, though they were a full second clear of the other new teams.  We know what happened to Kovalainen, with the Webber crash and Jarno Trulli had a gear selection problem early on, and trundled around to the chequered flag.  At least both Virgins finished again, showing the reliability is gradually improving.  Timo Glock has an unnecessary clash with Bruno Senna, on a weekend where Lucas di Grassi hung him out to shame.  The most impressive of the new boys so far, is Karun Chandok.  The Indian is a nice guy, and keeps plucking away at the back, consistently finishing the races, which is a positive sign for his future career.  However, their chances of scoring points in 2010 look further away than ever.

Kamur Kobayashi – Finally Showing Signs Of Promise

It has been a tough season for Kamur Kobayashi, as he has had to deal with an uncompetitive Sauber, plus he hasn’t helped his cause with several careless first lap incidents.  Despite a poor qualifying, which saw knocked out in Q1 for the second successive race, he took full advantage of the Safety Car, to not pit and stay out on the track, in third place for 53 laps.  The Japanese made full use of the prime tyre, rarely looked under threat from Jenson Button’s McLaren and then, when he had to pit to use the softer option, drove past Fernando Alonso as if he was an amateur, then outfoxed Sebastian Buemi on the final corner for 7^th place.  Nice driving from Kamur, if he strings more consistency together rather than shunts, he may well turn out to be Japan’s best-ever Grand Prix driver.

Williams – A Radical Improvement

Williams made a big step forward in Valencia, which is a real positive sign for the rest of this season.  Although Sam Michael has recently confirmed that focus is moving towards 2011, this development step worked, with more in the pipeline for Silverstone.  Last year’s winner, Rubens Barrichello qualified 9^th and finished an outstanding 4^th.  Nico Hulkenberg produced his strongest weekend of his rookie season so far, winding up 8^th on the grid and looked set for a point, but for a tyre failure with six laps to go.  His disappointment was clear to see, but this was a radical improvement for a team that has underachieved badly in recent seasons.

Pirelli Wins the Tyre Battle – Can It Match Bridgestone?

Last Wednesday, the FIA announced that Pirelli had won the contract to supply tyres to all Grand Prix teams from the 2011 season onwards.  Although Michelin are keen on a tyre war, it looks like we set for another period of monopoly from one tyre manufacturer.  Pirelli was last in the sport in 1991, recording a lucky victory for Benetton’s Nelson Piquet in the Canadian Grand Prix.  Whether it can match Bridgestone will be interesting to see at the start of next season.  Bridgestone have been fantastic for sport, having entered in 1997 and will be profoundly missed by everyone in the paddock, when the Japanese manufacturer quits at the end of this season.

New Rules Agreed For 2011 – Back To The Old Days Of Grand Prix Racing?

New regulations for 2011 see the return of the 107% regulation, which means the new teams, must buck up their ideas, or face exclusion from the race.  The last time this was in place was back in 2002, when Alex Yoong failed to make the cut for Minardi, on three separate occasions that season.  KERS will make its expected return to the grid next season, with Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault all set to offer systems to teams.  Though it isn’t compulsory, it is believed most teams will use the system that failed so spectacularly in 2009.  Also being brought in is a new Safety Car rule, which forbids any overtaking on the final lap of races, after the Alonso/Schumacher incident in Monaco this year.  Plus, the introduction of a near rear-wing aerodynamic flap device, which will allow the driver behind to operate and eliminate drag.  Theoretically, it should make overtaking easier, but after the events of last Sunday and what happened to Mark Webber, I think that regulation may be tweaked before the cars line up next season.  It seems like that for 2011, we are heading back towards the old days of Grand Prix Racing.

2010 European Grand Prix - Vettel Charges To Euro Glory

It was Germany’s day in the sporting world yesterday.  Not only did their footballers take full advantage of England’s liability of a defence, Sebastian Vettel cruised to victory in a fairly dramatic European Grand Prix on the streets of Valencia.  However, it was his team-mate who took the main headlines, for the wrong reasons, as Mark Webber had a very lucky escape.

Webber has made a disastrous start, being shuffled back from 2^nd to 9^th and made an early pitstop in an effort to move up the order.  On Lap 9, he rapidly closed in on the slow Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen.  Kovalainen made a pointless effort to defend, considering he was four seconds slower and Webber misjudged the Finn’s braking point.  The result was dramatic and cataclysmic.  The Australian walloped into the back of Heikki at 196mph and somersaulted into the air, landing upside down, and then careering at unabated speed into the tyre barriers.  Amazingly, he walked away without a scratch, though visibly shaken by the incident.  No doubt, this was a lucky escape for Formula One.

   

Vettel started from pole, and resisted an aggressive start from championship leader Lewis Hamilton.  Despite some minor contact, it was Hamilton who came off worse, requiring a new front wing.  He also misjudged the timing of the Safety Car being released out of the pits after the Webber/Kovalainen smash, and overtook it on-track.  Consequently, he got landed with a drive-through penalty, but built up enough of an advantage to remain in second spot.  Despite closing up at times on the German, Hamilton never looked like troubling Vettel, who cruised to an untroubled victory, remarkably only his second victory of the 2010 season.

 

Hamilton’s second place finish outraged Ferrari, who saw Hamilton speed away from the Safety Car, yet back-up Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.  As a result, their race was well and truly compromised, as they were forced to queue in the pits, and with overtaking limited, screwed their chances of a decent finish.  Alonso even had the indignity of being overtaken in the dying stages, by the Ferrari-shod Sauber of Japanese driver, Kamur Kobayashi.  8^th place was not what the doctor ordered for the Spaniard, who was furious afterwards, complaining bitterly about Hamilton’s lack of respect for the rules.  After his delay, Massa was never in contention and finished well outside the points for the second successive race.

Kobayashi made the most of the Safety Car, and stuck it out on the more preferred prime tyre for 53 of the 57 laps, therefore running in 3^rd for most of the race.  His late stop dropped him back, but two fantastic moves on Alonso and Sebastian Buemi saw him finish a well-deserved 7^th.  Pedro de la Rosa also scored a point, but saw it taken away in the stewards room, when he was one of nine drivers penalised for going too fast under Safety Car conditions.  With Vitaly Petrov also suffering this fate, it allowed a very fortunate Nico Rosberg into the points.  It was a miserable weekend for Mercedes, with Michael Schumacher another victim of the Safety Car conditions.  He was forced to wait under a red light, and wait for the crocodile to go past the pitlane.  Having started 15^th, it was left for him to be restricted to a test session.

Jenson Button finished a strong and solid 3^rd, ahead of last year’s winner, Rubens Barrichello.  Barrichello’s drive was brilliant, showing that Williams still have potential after a difficult 2010 so far.  Robert Kubica continued his rich vein of points scoring, with another committed effort on his way to 5^th, with Adrian Sutil doing likewise for Force India, winding up 6^th.  All these four drivers were penalised five seconds for the Safety Car regulation, yet it didn’t affect their finishing positions.

For Mark Webber, he was lucky to escape from a scary moment for the sport, but Sebastian Vettel breathed new momentum and life into his previous limping championship challenge.  Silverstone is next in a fortnight’s time, with McLaren leading the constructors’ championship and Hamilton and Button heading there, still 1-2 in the drivers’ championship.  More twists are bound to happen, as F1 2010 reaches its halfway stage.  

Steve McLaren - A Dutch Master

Do we all remember England’s shambolic failure to qualify for Euro 2008 in Austria/Switzerland?  The ‘Wally in a Brolly,’ headlines and the failure that was Steve McLaren.  Well, things have changed since that soggy, miserable Wembley night in November 2007, for both parties.

Whilst under the guidance of Fabio Capello, England have breezed into the World Cup finals in South Africa this summer, making the world sit up and take notice whilst doing so.  Meanwhile, McLaren has been attempting to rebuild his destroyed coaching reputation at the unheralded Dutch side, FC Twente.  This he has managed to do rather impressively and he will have bound to have raised a few eyebrows across Europe with the success over the weekend.

FC Twente became Dutch champions on Sunday, McLaren leading them to their first Eredevisie success in their 45-year history.  Facing Europa League hopefuls NAC Breda on Sunday, FC Twente stayed cool under the pressure and overcame the 10-men 2-0, with goals from Chelsea loanee Miroslav Stoch and their club-record signing, Bryan Ruiz.  It meant that Twente held on to win the league, one point clear of Martin Jol’s Ajax side.

Ajax may have won their last 14 games, including a 2-0 win over their title rivals a fortnight ago and amassed a staggering goal difference of +86, but Twente held on for a historic triumph, in an incredibly consistent season, which saw them lose just two games.  With the likes of AZ Alkmaar and former European Cup winners PSV Eindhoven beaten comprehensively into submission, this is a very impressive statistic.

McLaren, who turned 49 today, may not have the best Dutch accent around, but he has been able to master the Dutch game for sure.  Last season, his first season in charge, he took the club to 2^nd in the table and a Dutch Cup final appearance.  To have gone one better is very impressive, for a man, who when he took over in June 2008, it looked like a desperate move for a manager on the verge on liquidation.  He also steered FC Twente to Round three of the UEFA Europa League this season, eventually going down in a bruising encounter with German neighbours, Werder Bremen.

Despite successful spells as No.2 at Derby, and as Sir Alex Ferguson’s right-hand man at Manchester United, plus a five-year reign at Middlesbrough, which saw the Teesiders win the 2004 Carling Cup and reach a UEFA Cup final, it’s his England reign that will haunt his career.  His failure to get through a seemingly easy group on paper was galling, especially some of his questionable selections throughout the Euro 2008 campaign, including dropping David Beckham altogether and playing the has-been likes of David Nugent upfront.  However, his spell at FC Twente has been nothing short of a success and I wish them all the best in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League next season.

Congratulations to FC Twente and Steve McLaren, he truly is a Dutch Master!