The end of the road for Nicole and Lewis

THEY were one of the closest and famous partnerships in the world of showbiz, but after four years together, time has been called on the relationship between Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton.

      McLaren Formula One ace Hamilton, 25, confirmed the frenzied speculation of the past week was true and that the pair had gone their separate ways.  Speaking to reporters in the build-up to this weekend’s inaugural Indian Grand Prix, he said; “We’re friends at least and we can move forward.  It’s never easy going through tough times.  These times are sent to try you, and it’s about how you pull through them.” 

      The Brit, who has had a tough season on the track, has spent some time away from the fast lane with his family and he seemed to be in more positive spirits on arrival at the Buddah International Circuit.  At the last event in Korea two weeks ago, he looked miserable and downbeat all weekend, which had already suggested that the relationship with his popstar princess had already, ran into trouble.  Despite the behind the scenes turmoil, Hamilton broke the Red Bull run of pole positions in South Korea last time out and finished second to reigning champion Sebastian Vettel in the race.  It will be interesting to see how the separation affects or benefits his driving.  He has won two races this season and is hoping to close up on the likes of Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber this weekend in the drivers’ championship.

OVER: Lewis Hamilton and Nicole Scherzinger's relationship has hit the skids

     There were times when it looked like Hamilton and Scherzinger were the perfect match, despite the age gap between them.  The American singer is currently in London, preparing for a performance of her latest new single ‘Try with Me’ in Sunday night’s live results show of the X-Factor.  She is also booked in for an appearance on Alan Carr’s chatshow programme, Chatty Man on Channel 4, due to also be screened on Sunday.  Nicole has not commented on the spilt, with close friends just saying that the decision had been very amicable last week.  It is believed that the reason for the parting of ways was because of the long-distance working pressures between the pair.

      Scherzinger, 33, is currently judging on the US version of the X-Factor, with certain sources of the media suggesting that she is seeking comfort from Welsh presenter of the show, Steve Jones.  She has had immense success in the UK with her debut solo album ‘Killer Love,’ soaring to the top of the charts with hit singles such as ‘Right There,’ ‘Poison,’ and ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath.’  Her relationship with Hamilton has gone down rocky roads in the past, as they did have a brief separation in January 2010.  Her role in Lewis’s life has also been seen as a catalyst in the decline of the racing driver’s close relationship with his Dad, Anthony.  They first got together in Monaco in 2008, with the former Pussycat Doll cheering for her boyfriend when he sensationally won the 2008 F1 championship on the final corner of the Brazilian Grand Prix.  They were last seen together in public at a Grand Prix event back in Monaco in May.  During the summer, both denied a possible engagement through the social networking site, Twitter.

       It is a sad ending for one of the most well-known and well-liked celebrity couples.  Let’s hope both can put aside the difficult time in their private lives at the weekend and produce electric performances in London and India.  

F1 2011 - The half-term report

IT IS the halfway point in F1 2011, so it’s time for me to assess how some of the drivers have done in the first ten races;

Sebastian Vettel (1^st in the world championship, 216 points – BEST FINISH: 1^st on six occasions

This season, there can be no doubt that Sebastian Vettel tops the class.  Six victories, seven pole positions and over 70 per cent of laps led so far have shown that he has destroyed the opposition on a regular basis so far.  His win in Turkey, considering he missed all of Friday, due to a practice crash showed how awesome he is at the front of the field.  Sunday’s performance at the Nurburgring was below par, but everyone has a bad weekend during any Grand Prix season.  Sebastian probably needs to still shake off the tag of struggling to race in the pack, but great strategy, sensational one lap ability and a reliable car means it will take a miracle for him to be denied a second championship.

GRADE: A+ (An almost flawless campaign so far, he deserves to be where he is)

Lewis Hamilton (3^rd in the world championship, 134 points – BEST FINISH: 1^st in China, Germany)

Lewis Hamilton has had an inconsistent season so far and for his talents, some of his results have been very disappointing.  Considering where McLaren looked in winter testing, third at halfway point is not bad, but Lewis wants more and at times, has overdriven the car.  Run-ins with Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado in Monaco; team-mate Jenson Button in Canada, it has either been silly mistakes or masterful drives in 2011 and nothing in-between.  His comments about the race stewards in Monaco didn’t go down very well either and his relationship with McLaren might be permanently damaged after ‘that’ meeting with Christian Horner in Canada.  Nevertheless, the victories in China and Germany showed us why we love Lewis; for his natural aggression and the ability to outperform the machinery he has at his disposal. 

GRADE: A- (Calm it down Lewis, you have shown what you are capable of)

Mark Webber (2^nd in the world championship, 139 points – BEST FINISH: 2^nd in Turkey)

Mark Webber is under pressure this season, especially as he is now definitely playing second fiddle in the Red Bull camp.  At times, he has shown his hard-charging determination and his fightback from 18^th on the grid to a podium finish in China is testimony to that.  He has consistently finished on the podium of late, but no wins in nearly a year tells its own story.  Sometimes, he can just disappear into thin air, as the races in Australia and Spain would highlight.  Considering he is in the best equipment, Mark should have won races by now, so although there is consistency, the extra edge is missing at the moment.  He knows he has it, but the question is, can he deliver it before the season’s end.

GRADE: B+ (Gradual improvements during the year – but needs to start winning soon)

 

Felipe Massa (6^th in the world championship, 62 points – BEST FINISH: 5^th in Malaysia)

Felipe Massa had a lacklustre start to the season, with a terrible opening weekend in Melbourne.  He only just made Q3 and finished an entire minute behind team-mate Fernando Alonso.  His performance in Turkey was erratic too, especially on a circuit where he has ruled before and the Spanish Grand Prix weekend was an unmitigated disaster.  However, he is a reliable foil for Fernando and on occasion, such as China and Canada, can outperform his ace team-mate.  The results haven’t quite been upto scratch, and that will need work in the second half of the season, especially as Fernando will need his help if he stands any remote chance of a shock comeback.

GRADE: B- (Shown flashes of the old Felipe, but not enough to prove he can win races again)

Vitaly Petrov (9^th in the world championship, 32 points – BEST FINISH: 3^rd in Australia)

The season couldn’t have started any better for Vitaly, as he secured a popular podium finish in the Australian Grand Prix.  Since then, he has struggled to deliver high-profile results, but that is down to the Renault’s lack of development rather than the driver failing to live upto standards.  Fifth in Canada and eighth in Turkey were days when Petrov made the most of a day when others struggled.  Valencia and Silverstone aside, he has threatened points on every weekend and with a better car and more support from a higher scoring team-mate, would achieve far more than his points tally suggests.

GRADE: B+ (A pleasant surprise so far – totally written off those critics he had last term)

Fernando Alonso (4^th in the world championship, 130 points – BEST FINISH: 1^st in Britain)

Personally, I think Fernando is driving the best he has ever done in his career.  Time and again, he has dragged even more than what the Ferrari is capable of.  Not once has he shown his general frustrations this season, even after being lapped in Barcelona having led the first 20 laps of his home event.  His success at Silverstone was fully deserved and second place finishes in Monaco and at the Nurburgring show the fire is still well and truly burning brightly.  Alonso will win another title, especially now he is tied down long-term to Ferrari, but Vettel’s sheer pace means that the wait will have to go on a bit longer.

GRADE: A (With better machinery, he would have given Vettel a run all season)

Nick Heidfeld (8^th in the world championship, 34 points – BEST FINISH: 3^rd in Malaysia)

Things didn’t start well for Robert Kubica’s replacement, as major KERS problems left him down in 13^th in Australia.  It looked much better after a brilliant Malaysia weekend, which saw Nick in the top six, run second in the first stint and end up on the podium.  However, he has failed to deliver on that promise.  He has shown a real lack of pace in qualifying and it has really hurt race efforts.  Despite being a consistent point’s finisher, he hasn’t set the world alight.  With Kubica recovering well, plus the likes of Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean pushing hard, Nick might as well begin looking around for other motorsport employment next season.

GRADE: C+ (A lacklustre campaign from Mr. Reliable, must do better!)

Rubens Barrichello (16^th in the world championship, 4 points – BEST FINISH: 9^th in Monaco)

He has started over 300 races, but perhaps the time has come for Rubens Barrichello to hang up his helmet and make a gracious exit from the sport he still truly loves.  The 2011 Williams is not a good car and his frustrations at times this season have shown, especially as the car has been unreliable too.  It might not be his decision either, especially if Williams continue to require money from drivers for the seats.  Pastor Maldonado has embarrassed him in qualifying too frequently and although he bought home valuable points in Monaco and Canada, the spark seems to have gone. 

GRADE: D (Going out with a whimper, don’t make the same mistake as many others Rubens!)

Michael Schumacher (10^th in the world championship, 32 points – BEST FINISH: 4^th in Canada)

After a shambolic season opener in Melbourne, Michael has shown flashes of the man we love best.  His drive in Canada reminded us of the glory days and he was desperately unlucky not to get a rostrum.  Like the Williams, he has been severely limited by his machinery this season, but the scrapes he has had with Jaime Alguesuari in Melbourne, Vitaly Petrov in Turkey and Kamur Kobayashi at Silverstone suggest that his judgement is not the same as it was.  He needs more days like Montreal if he doesn’t want to get the label of the ‘worst comeback’ ever!

GRADE: C- (Willing to improve the car, must start beating Rosberg on a regular basis)

Kamur Kobayashi (11^th in the world championship, 27 points – BEST FINISH: 5^th in Monaco)

Kamur Kobayashi is the hottest and greatest racing driver to have ever come out of Japan.  His thrilling attitude towards overtaking has meant that there is never a dull moment when he is around.  Sauber have given him a much better chassis this season and Kamur is starting to produce a string of strong, consistent results.  His enthusiasm for the sport can’t be questioned, especially considering the tough times his country has faced following the devastating tsunami only weeks before the season’s beginning.  Only his qualifying needs to be worked on, but a shrewd team leader he is turning out to be.

GRADE: B- (Great season so far, with few errors of judgement)

Paul di Resta (17^th in the world championship, 2 points – BEST FINISH: 10^th in Australia)

The ability to beat your team-mate on a regular basis makes you a hot property and that certainly is what Paul di Resta is.  He has left Adrian Sutil trailing in his wake at Force India this season and only Valencia and Nurburgring was he significantly outpaced by the German.  However, Paul needs to cut down on the clumsy manoeuvres he is making in races.  He missed out on point’s opportunities in Monaco and Canada by attempting almost impossible overtakes.  With Mercedes chasing after his services long-term, Paul has earnt his right to stay in F1 for the long-term.

GRADE: C+ (Shows great potential, but needs to stay out of trouble more often) 

Jarno Trulli (19^th in the world championship, 0 points – BEST FINISH: 13^th in Australia and Monaco)

Jarno Trulli was dropped from the Team Lotus squad for last weekend’s race and is not hard to see why.  The Italian has been smashed by his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen and continues to complain about the lack of power steering available to his disposal.  Lotus has a new system for him this weekend, so there can now be no excuses.

GRADE: E (Time to move over for the younger generation)

Sebastian Buemi (15^th in the world championship, 8 points – BEST FINISH: 8^th in Australia)

Until Nurburgring, Sebastian Buemi had put in a very good showing in all the races this season.  The Toro Rosso has struggled again this season, but is more firmly in the midfield and four point’s finishes show that Buemi is no slouch in the car.  He has had the measure of Jaime Alguesuari for most of the season and can surely look forward to another season at Toro Rosso next year.

GRADE: C+ (Significant improvements on last year’s horror show)

Adrian Sutil (12^th in the world championship, 18 points – BEST FINISH: 6^th in Germany)

Having been outpaced for large periods this season by Paul di Resta, Adrian has to make massive improvements in the second half of the season.  He threw away points in Canada with some clumsy mistakes and when he has finished races, the team’s strategy has often cost him points.  Nevertheless, he did well to bag some useful points in both Monaco and last Sunday in Germany and although his stock has dropped, the quality on his day is still there.  Considering criminal charges for a nightclub incident in China hang over him, Adrian is doing well to get on with the job in hand.

GRADE: C- (More needed, especially on a Saturday afternoon)

Jenson Button (5^th in the world championship, 109 points – BEST FINISH: 1^st in Canada)

Bad luck has got in the way of Jenson Button in the last few races and that’s a shame, because he has a very good season so far.  Surprisingly, he hasn’t quite managed to get the best out of the new Pirelli tyres, but he won in such brilliant fashion in Canada against all the odds.  He should have won Monaco too and a flying second place in Malaysia proves just why Button is world champion quality.  Saturday’s have been a struggle though and it has just given him far too much to do on too many occasions.

GRADE: B+ (Outstanding on Sundays, too average on Saturdays)

Sergio Perez (14^th in the world championship, 8 points – BEST FINISH: 7^th in Britain)

Although his first campaign will sadly be remembered for the horrific qualifying crash in Monaco, Sergio Perez has proven that Mexico has Got Talent!  Perez’s ability to keep his Pirelli tyres durable has seriously impressed me.  He lost a stunning seventh place in Melbourne to a technical infringement, but has made up for it with strong points results in Spain and at Silverstone.  Sergio is the rookie of the year so far.

GRADE: B- (Able to handle the pressure of Grand Prix racing extremely well)

Vitantonio Liuzzi (20^th in the world championship, 0 points – BEST FINISH: 13^th in Canada)

Tonio has got on with it this season, considering he has a pig of a car to drive.  He has more than matched the Virgin cars this term and although his best years have gone, it’s good to see him outperforming his equipment.  It’s such a shame it took too long to deliver.

GRADE: C (A good effort in rubbish machinery)

The Finishing Straight - Monaco (by HappyDude88)

THE Monaco Grand Prix provided plenty of talking points, recriminations and celebration.  This is my view of an action-packed weekend;

     Lewis Hamilton’s weekend in Monaco was an absolute disaster.  It ended with a ‘joke’ about his racial colour which was distasteful and disgraceful.  Having said last week in the Spanish blog that I had been impressed with Hamilton’s discipline throughout the season so far, Monaco was totally the opposite.  In qualifying, he had been flying.  He was fastest in Q1 and Q2 and had a golden chance of snatching pole position from the king of Saturday qualifying, Sebastian Vettel.  McLaren made a grave mistake by gambling on just the one run for Hamilton, and when the red flag came out for Sergio Perez’s big accident, their strategy had backfired.  Before this, Hamilton claimed he had been held up by Felipe Massa as he came out of the pits, which certainly seemed a bit far-fetched.  To compound matters, Lewis cut the chicane at the Swimming Pool and had his one qualifying time deleted.  He started out of position in ninth and then frankly drove like an amateur who had failed their driving test miserably on Sunday.  Granted, he pulled off a spectacular pass on Michael Schumacher early on, but his run-ins with Massa and Pastor Maldonado were daft.  

CLUMSY: Hamilton and Massa got into a banging match

     The lunge on Massa into the Loews hairpin, where it is impossible to overtake was clumsy to say the least.  The pair interlocked wheels and continued their race into the Monaco tunnel.  Hamilton forced his way through, which pushed the Ferrari onto the dirty marbles and left Felipe clattering into the barriers.  This bought out the Safety Car.  Lewis got a deserved drive-through penalty for causing the collision, and had the cheek to blame Massa on his team radio; “I went up the inside and he turned in on me.  That was on purpose!”  Well Lewis, if that was on purpose, then I shall eat my summer hat!!  If he wants lessons on purposely turning into corners, then ask Michael Schumacher, he’s a proven expert!

      His run-in with Maldonado was just as bad, and it cost the rookie his first championship points.  After the red flag interlude, for which Lewis should have been disqualified for driving around with a rear wing about to collapse for at least two laps, he dived up the inside and rammed into the Williams at Ste. Devote.  His claim was that Maldonado turned in early, but the replays will indicate that when Lewis made contact, he even used the pitlane exit, not the track!  Stick to the road and you might have a point. . .  He got a time penalty after the race, which did nothing to his finishing position, so it was pointless and it isn’t going to get back Maldonado’s points place.  Afterwards, he called the race stewards a “freckin joke,” blamed Massa and Maldonado, slagged his team off for a diabolical pitstop, then said this; “I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m black.  That’s what Ali G says!”  Martin Whitmarsh ordered his driver back to the race stewards to apologise and Hamilton was ensured that the matter would be resolved there and then.  On Tuesday, it was clear that Lewis had regretted his words and he apologised to his fans, Massa and Maldonado via his Twitter page; “To Massa and Maldonado, with the greatest respect, I apologise if I offended you.  Both of you are fantastic drivers who I regard highly.”

      For me, the incident should now be drawn underneath the line and we must move on.  However, Lewis Hamilton is a lucky lad to not face any further action from the FIA for his derogatory comments.  Whether it was a joke or not, it doesn’t matter, his comments have no place in today’s society and he is experienced enough now to know better.  I hope in Canada, I can talk more positively about Lewis Hamilton rather than all the negatives of this race.

      Away from Hamilton’s horror weekend, the 2011 Monaco Grand Prix was the worst for serious accidents in a single weekend since the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.  In Melbourne a decade ago, Michael Schumacher walked away from rolling his Ferrari in practice, Luciano Burti suffered a suspension failure in his Jaguar during qualifying, which ripped his car into bits and pieces and finally, there was the tragic collision between Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve in the race that led to the fatality of 52-year old trackside marshal Graham Beveridge.  In Monaco, it was the drivers who were more at risk.  

     First, Nico Rosberg crashed during Saturday morning practice, when his Mercedes got unsettled under braking for the Nouvelle chicane.  Rosberg only narrowly missed the tyre barriers head-on by millimetres.  After this scary incident, race director Charlie Whiting insisted that the speed humps in the chicane be removed for qualifying.  It was this action, plus the strength of today’s Grand Prix cars that saved Sergio Perez’s life in qualifying.  

WRECKAGE: Only minor injuries for Sergio Perez after this shunt

      The Mexican rookie had done a brilliant job to reach the final part of qualifying, when he got off-line in the tunnel.  On the notorious bumps, his Sauber went the same way as Rosberg, but the side impact with the wall did its job, even though it was terrifying.  The lack of flailing movement from Perez inside the cockpit just added to the distress for his father and the Sauber team inside the pit garage.  It was a crash that bought echoes about Karl Wendlinger’s shocking shunt at the same place in 1994.  The Austrian went into a deep coma when he crashed his Sauber car in almost the same way as Perez did just a fortnight after the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger.  Perez was ruled out of the race by concussion and a thigh injury, but he was released from the Princess Grace Hospital on Monday morning, following two nights in hospital for observational purposes.  He should be fit and raring to go for the next event in Canada next weekend. 

      24 hours later, and another driver was admitted to hospital in a far less significant impact, which could have been tragic.  Vitaly Petrov was released from the same clinic a day earlier than Perez, with minor concussion and bruising after a brush with the barriers which again worried many seasoned observers.  His crash came on lap 69, during a traffic jam, which nearly saw the three race leaders, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button end up being caught up in the melee.  The incident began at Tabac, when Maldonado passed Adrian Sutil and the Force India driver grazed the wall, puncturing a tyre.  As Sutil limped around, Hamilton braked to avoid him and was whacked from behind by Jaime Alguesuari.  With the Toro Rosso using the McLaren as a launch pad, Petrov’s Renault was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Remarkably, Sebastian Buemi, Rosberg and the three leaders got through the wreckage undamaged.  Again, although he had removed his steering wheel, there was a lack of movement from Petrov inside the cockpit, with the Russian complaining of pain in his ankles.  Thankfully, there were no broken bones, but it was the last thing Formula One needed after Perez’s brush with life 24 hours earlier.  In fact, the sport has had three lucky escapes this weekend and it is time to make some radical safety improvements to the Monaco circuit.  The harsh will say that racing cars have just simply outgrown the streets.  Well, without Monaco on the calendar, there’d be no point of a F1 world championship.  Just some urgent track resurfacing and barrier movements should be needed to improve the safety levels around the Principality.  However, this weekend was definitely a wake-up call.

      One driver who must be feeling the pressure now is Jaime Alguesuari.  Whilst Sebastian Buemi collected another point for Toro Rosso, Alguesuari is on seriously borrowed time, especially with the highly-rated Daniel Ricciardo sitting in the wings of the Toro Rosso garage.  Alguesuari struggled all weekend and was knocked out in Q1.  Even worse, he was comprehensively outpaced by the two Lotus cars and spent the first half of the race behind Jarno Trulli.  His race-ending incident, against Hamilton’s McLaren, considering he was a lap down in the melee won’t have impressed anyone.  Franz Tost is known for sacking drivers in mid-season.  Both Scott Speed and Sebastian Bourdais have felt that in the past, and more performances like this and Alguesuari will join them in the ‘Unemployed’ category.  As much as I don’t like to see these things happen to racing drivers, Jaime needs to raise his game and quickly if he doesn’t want to get the boot.  One man who has received the boot is Nick Wirth.  Wirth was the technical director of the Virgin Racing team and another shambles in Monaco has led to his departure.  For the second year running, Timo Glock suffered a scary suspension failure, where he looked to be driving on three wheels.  The Virgin’s are the best part of five seconds slower than the frontrunners and are nowhere near the midfield in Formula One.  In fact, Hispania seem closer to them, than they do to Lotus.  Excuses run very thin in this business and Wirth has paid the price for the 2011 chassis, which is simply, a dreadful racing car.  Handling a Skoda might be a better job and I know from Glock’s body language, that his frustration is plain to see.  Having said that, rookie Jerome D’Ambrosio finished again and the Belgian is doing a creditable job, considering the resources he has at his disposal, which is certainly very limited.

TOP: Another classy weekend for Sebastian Vettel

      Finally, it is time to crown my Driver of the Weekend.  Despite good efforts from Pastor Maldonado and Jenson Button, it goes to the runaway championship leader Sebastian Vettel.  Vettel has never gone great around Monaco in the past, despite a fifth and a second place before.  His form over the weekend was once again immaculate.  His driving ability can’t be questioned and he did a wonderful job holding off Alonso and Button on far quicker tyres.  He turned Red Bull’s disastrous pitstops into a race-winning performance.  Of course, he received some well-judged fortune, through the late race suspension, which allowed everyone to change their tyres for the last five laps, but I think Alonso and Button would have struggled to get past anyway.  The champagne is on ice and Sebastian Vettel is walking away with the 2011 world championship.  Canada’s next; another weak Vettel circuit?  Well, considering his form in Barcelona and Monte Carlo, let’s make him the race favourite again then!

2011 Monaco Grand Prix - Vettel lucks in at the Principality

A MISTAKEN tyre strategy and a red flag helped Sebastian Vettel to be the new king of Monaco.  The German held off stiff challenges from Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button yesterday to win the Monaco Grand Prix.  It is his fifth win from six races in 2011, cementing his place as the runaway leader of the drivers’ championship.  His main challenger, Lewis Hamilton had a dog’s dinner of an afternoon, incurring two penalties and then sensationally blasting the race stewards in a post-race interview.

KISS: This will be the sweetest of wins for Sebastian Vettel

      The Monaco Grand Prix was building into a dramatic and nail-biting finish.  Vettel was on worn soft Pirelli tyres, which he’d had on his car from lap 16 onwards.  He only got those tyres after Red Bull had two awful pitstops in less than a minute, and put the wrong type of tyre on.  Despite this, Sebastian managed to master the quicker Alonso and Button behind him.  He then got a huge slice of luck, which could have ended in a cataclysmic disaster.

       With six laps to go, Adrian Sutil struck the barriers at Tabac, and was limping with a right-rear puncture.  Lewis Hamilton hit the brakes to avoid the Force India, but was clobbered by the Toro Rosso of lapped Spanish driver Jaime Alguesuari.  The Toro Rosso rebounded into the Swimming Pool guardrail, leaving the Renault of Vitaly Petrov with absolutely nowhere to go.  The Russian hit the same wall, and was briefly knocked unconscious in the crash.  The three race leaders were right behind the drama and only just avoided the stricken cars.  The safety car was deployed, shortly followed by a red flag.  Petrov complained of pain in his left ankle, and remained in the car as the paramedics attended to him.  He was admitted to the Princess Grace Hospital, with concussion and light bruising, and thankfully, was released last night.  Following Sergio Perez’s horrifying crash in qualifying on Saturday, which knocked the Mexican driver out of the event – Formula One can count itself lucky to have had two major escapes in the jewel in the crown of the racing calendar. 

      Surprisingly, the race wasn’t stopped and a result given and the drivers lined up on the grid for a restart behind the Safety Car.  Sadly for the neutrals, new tyres were allowed for all the drivers, which meant that Vettel’s tyre disadvantage had been wiped out.  It meant that he could have a fairly processional run to the chequered flag.  The McLaren team did a sterling job to fix Hamilton’s rear wing, which had been badly mangled up in the multiple crash with Alguesuari and Petrov.  However, Lewis wasn’t out of the wars just yet.

SMASH: Hamilton's hopeless attempt ended Maldonado's race

     As the green flags waved again, the Brit attempted a hopeless overtaking lunge on the Williams of Pastor Maldonado into the Ste. Devote corner.  Maldonado was knocked into the barriers, losing his chance of world championship points for the first time in his short career.  Remarkably, Hamilton escaped undamaged and went onto finish sixth.  After the race, he was given a 25-second time penalty for causing the crash with the Venezuelan.  Earlier in the race, Hamilton tried an ambitious lunge at Felipe Massa into the tight 30mph Loews hairpin corner.  The two interlocked wheels, and continued their fight into the tunnel.  Lewis charged through and pushed the Ferrari onto the marbles, which left Massa in the wall and out of the event.  The Brazilian’s crash bought the Safety Car out for the first time this season, and it’s fair to say, he looked unimpressed as he strode away from his damaged chassis.  Hamilton got a drive-through penalty for causing this collision.  After the race, he called a stewards a ‘freckin joke’ for the incidents, called Massa and Maldonado ‘stupid,’ blamed the team for a kamikaze pitstop, then made a jokey reference of being victimised to BBC’s Lee McKenzie by responding; ‘I don’t know, maybe because I’m black, that’s what Ali G would say.”  The comments were disgraceful and an hour later, Hamilton went back to the circuit to make his peace with the race stewards, who accepted his apology.  Whether the FIA will want to bring him into disrepute remains to be seen.

      McLaren had a terrible weekend with race strategy.  They covered a possible Safety Car for Timo Glock’s Virgin with Button, which turned into the wrong move.  A horrendous miscommunication led to no-one being in the pits with Hamilton when he arrived for tyres on lap 25.  The possibility of another race victory slipped through their fingers.  Behind the first three, Mark Webber recovered from a horrible pitstop in the early Red Bull chaos to finish fourth.  The Aussie pulled off a stunning pass on Kamur Kobayashi to clinch fourth spot with two laps remaining.  Kobayashi still finished an outstanding fifth, having made a one-stop strategy work to perfection.  It is the Japanese’s driver best finish of his career, and a much-needed boost for the Sauber team after Perez being hospitalised by Saturday’s smash.  Sutil recovered from his puncture to end up 7^th behind Hamilton, with the final points going to Nick Heidfeld, Rubens Barrichello (Williams first of the season), and Sebastian Buemi’s Toro Rosso.  Scotland’s Paul di Resta clashed with Alguesuari and Jerome D’Ambrosio during the race and also earnt a drive-through penalty for his risky overtaking attempts.  He finished 12^th.

      In the celebrations, BBC pundits Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard were thrown into the Red Bull party pool by an ecstatic Vettel, who now looks uncatchable in the championship.  Vettel’s achievement will however be overshadowed by F1’s worst weekend of serious crashes in a decade.  Luckily, there were no serious injuries.  As for Lewis Hamilton, he has a lot of soul-searching to do before the circus meets up in Montreal in a fortnight’s time.  

F1 classic races - Monaco

IN A new series, I will be looking back at six classic races every weekend from the country about to stage an event in the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship.  This is my selection, of races in Monaco between 1991 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1992

DRAMATIC: Senna's slower McLaren holds off Mansell in 1992

WINNER: Ayrton Senna (McLaren Honda), 2^nd: Nigel Mansell (Williams Renault), 3^rd: Riccardo Patrese (Williams Renault)

NIGEL Mansell was aiming to become the first driver since the days of Alberto Ascari in the 1950s to win six races in a row.  He dominated this race from pole position, until he collected an unfortunate puncture with seven laps to go.  Ayrton Senna inherited the lead, but Mansell quickly caught up to the McLaren Honda and drove all over the road, in a desperate attempt to overhaul the Brazilian.  Senna made his car the widest possible around, and despite doing all he could, Mansell couldn’t find a way past.  Ayrton securing his fifth win in six Monaco Grand Prix’s.  It was a belting finish.

1996

CHAMPAGNE: Panis, Coulthard and Herbert spray the bubbly

WINNER: Olivier Panis (Ligier Mugen Honda), 2^nd: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Johnny Herbert (Sauber Ford)

THIS was the race which should have the title ‘Last Man Standing.’  21 started, only four finished!  The drama on a greasy track surface started when Jos Verstappen, the only man stupid enough to start on slick tyres, slid straight into the St. Devote barriers.  Moments later, world champion Michael Schumacher made a rare error and hit the wall at Portier.  Damon Hill led from the start and was miles ahead of anyone else when his Williams Renault blew up in the tunnel on lap 40, leaving Damon devastated.  This promoted Jean Alesi into the lead, but a wheel bearing stopped his Benetton in the pits.  The second Williams of Jacques Villeneuve was never a factor in the victory chase, but was taken out by the hopeless Forti of Luca Badoer.  All of this drama saw Olivier Panis come through from 14^th on the grid to secure a gigantic triumph for the fading Ligier Mugen Honda team.  Brits David Coulthard and Johnny Herbert, plus the other Sauber of Heinz-Harald Frentzen were the only other finishers.

1997

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 2^nd: Rubens Barrichello (Stewart Ford), 3^rd: Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)

WILLIAMS took a mad pill before this race, chucking away their qualifying advantage.  On a wet circuit, the team elected to start pole man Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jacques Villeneuve on slick tyres.  Michael Schumacher drove past the pair at the start, and went on to produce a Monaco masterclass.  Schumacher was a phenomenal 21 seconds clear of Giancarlo Fisichella’s Jordan by the end of lap five.  Villeneuve gave up the chase by smacking the rear corner of his car against the wall at St. Devote, whilst behind lapped by Schumacher on lap 16.  Frentzen struck the wall in the chicane, whilst running a lonely 9^th.  Despite a quick trip down the escape road in the worsening conditions, Schumacher won the race by country miles.  Rubens Barrichello produced a stunning drive from tenth on the grid to score a brilliant second place for the new Stewart Ford outfit, leaving Jackie Stewart full of emotion.  Eddie Irvine made it a great day for Ferrari, with the final podium position, ahead of 1996 winner Olivier Panis and Mika Salo, who claimed Tyrrell’s final ever world championship points by not coming into the pits at all during the timed out 62 laps.

2002

WINNER: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 3^rd: Ralf Schumacher (Williams BMW)

FERRARI and Michael Schumacher were reeling from the team orders scandal that hit F1 after the Austrian race two weeks earlier.  In Monaco, the unbeatable F2002 was beaten for the only time in the 2002 season.  Schumacher qualified third, and couldn’t find a way past David Coulthard.  Coulthard blasted past Juan Pablo Montoya off the start, survived a technical gremlin at half-distance and benefited from a upgraded package by McLaren to hold off a feisty challenge from Schumacher.  Montoya couldn’t respond, as his Williams BMW suffered a total engine failure.  Ralf Schumacher salvaged third place for the team, despite a late pitstop to replace a delaminated tyre.  The other Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello had a clumsy afternoon, which included a collision with Kimi Raikkonen and a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pits.  Barrichello ended out of the points in seventh position, behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who scored the final ever world championship point for the Arrows team, before they folded later in the season.

2005

WINNER: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Nick Heidfeld (Williams BMW), 3^rd: Mark Webber (Williams BMW)

A STUNNING stint after a Safety Car saw Kimi Raikkonen clinch his first and ultimately, only triumph around the streets of Monte Carlo.  Raikkonen took pole position, benefiting massively from one of his main rivals on the weekend, Juan Pablo Montoya, being sent to the back of the grid for causing a Saturday morning accident between David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve.  It looked like McLaren had thrown away Raikkonen’s clear advantage, by not pitting him during a Safety Car period.  It was caused after Christjian Albers spun his Minardi, causing a blockage at the Mirabeau hairpin, which ended with Coulthard being, ran into the back of Michael Schumacher, terminating the Scot’s challenge.  However, Raikkonen produced a series of searing laps when racing resumed, pulling away from Fernando Alonso, who was struggling with heavy rear tyre wear.  Despite his best efforts, Alonso couldn’t resist the faster Williams of Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber, but still finished fourth, to keep a significant championship lead.  Michael Schumacher didn’t make many friends in Monaco 2005.  Coulthard was furious with his retirement, and then he passed Rubens Barrichello, who was unhappy with the strong move on the last lap by his team-mate.  To compound matters, a strong attempt at passing brother Ralf on the start-finish straight, nearly put the Toyota in the barrier.

2008

RECOVERY: Hamilton won in 2008, dream result after an early scrape

WINNER: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), 3^rd: Felipe Massa (Ferrari)

LEWIS Hamilton followed in the footsteps of his hero, Ayrton Senna, by recovering from a careless slap with the barriers in the early exchanges to win in 2008.  The Hamilton family felt they had been robbed of victory in 2007 by McLaren team orders.  Lewis rewrote the wrongs of 07, but he got lucky, after striking the wall at Tabac on lap six, left him with a puncture.  McLaren switched his strategy at that point, and combined with stunning driving and a drying track, it changed the race.  Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa put in gritty performances to complete the podium, but Adrian Sutil was cruelly robbed of a deserved fourth place, when his Force India was rammed at the chicane by a out-of-control Kimi Raikkonen.  For his part, Raikkonen ended up out of the points, which started the disintegration of his world championship defence.

2010 Monaco 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.  Just seven short days from the return to Europe, F1 moved to its more glamorous venue, the style and class of the principality that is Monte Carlo.  This race provided the typical Monaco, drama full of thrills and spills, despite a frontline procession and many talking points afterwards.  So, this is race six of 2010, which drivers need to improve with 33% of the season complete, and who is on top of their game so far.

Mark Webber – What a Difference a Fortnight Makes

Two weeks ago, Mark Webber was languishing in 8^th place in the drivers’ championship, having produced some very erratic performances, and his position at Red Bull Racing was looking under severe scrutiny.  Two races later, he has an equal share for the lead in the world championship, with two absolute masterful performances in Spain and then again, in Monaco.  Red Bull would now be making a severe error of judgement if they allowed this experienced Aussie out of their grasp.  Not only has Webber been impressive, he has dismantled the highly-rated Sebastian Vettel in the past fortnight, not bad going against the young German, who many people’s tip to become world champion this season.  Mark has looked so in control with his car throughout these races, he never put a foot and didn’t look it either.  You can’t ask more for two dominant back-to-back successes can you?  Mark Webber is now a serious championship player and momentum in Formula One is a big imperative to have, something which he currently has in abundance. 

Damon & Michael Clash Again – Fair Or Foul!

When BRDC president Damon Hill was confirmed as the expert steward for the Monaco Grand Prix, I was concerned of his appointment, largely because of his possible bias towards the British drivers, and the hatred with the great Michael Schumacher.  Sure enough, with the latter, I was sadly proven right.  Schumacher was punished after the race with a ridiculous 20-second penalty for overtaking Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari on the last corner of the race, under a Safety Car.  Now, in 2009 regulations, that is totally illegal, but the rules have changed for 2010, which allow drivers to start overtaking after the final white line before the start-finish straight.  However, article 40.3 in the complex rules state that doesn’t happen on the last lap of the race.  With two differing viewpoints from Mercedes and Ferrari, plus two such fiery characters in Alonso and Schumacher, this one was always bound to cause controversy.  Ferrari believed the rulebook, Ross Brawn was convinced we were racing, as backed up by green flags, no Safety Car boards and messages from race control ‘Safety Car in this Lap.’  Mercedes have chosen not to appeal, probably best for the interests of the sport, but urgent clarification is required to stop this from happening again.  As for Damon, swapping back the positions would have been seen as a fairer viewing, but a penalty that drops Schumacher out of the points is incredibly harsh.  The bitter enemies from 1994 and 1995 have clashed again, and Hill has done no favours for his integrity on this one.  Mercedes and Michael Schumacher have a firm right to be aggrieved about this questionable steward and his decision-making.

Robert Kubica – Is A Drive With The Scuderia Beckoning?

Robert Kubica is one of the star drivers of 2010 so far, and his performance around the streets of Monte Carlo was absolutely sensational.  Renault is steadily improving, but are still no better than scraping their cars into Q3.  So, Kubica, normally starting around 7^th-9^th, produced an incredible qualifying performance to bang his car on the front row.  An aggressive thought on trying to pass Webber off the line failed, as he was gazumped by Vettel and almost by Felipe Massa, but Robert dug in and kept Vettel firmly honest all afternoon.  A 3^rd place finish was a brilliant result, and points to the fact how much the Pole has been getting the maximum out of this chassis.  Actually, he looked a bit disappointed on the rostrum, which suggests he felt he could have done even better.  Team-mate Vitaly Petrov had another accident this weekend, and is struggling to keep up with Kubica, despite his flashes of speed and talent.  With Massa still not in the groove at Maranello and performances like this from Robert, these constant rumours about him moving to Ferrari are only going to get stronger with each race.

Fernando Alonso – A Costly Error

He admitted it on Saturday morning; Fernando Alonso made a costly error that could have severe implications for his world championship bid.  Having dominated Thursday practice, the Spaniard was early favourite to take the top step of the podium, until he locked up, ran wide and found the magnetic attraction of the Monaco barriers at Massenet.  It looked a slow crash, but the damage was very bad, so much so that he had to sit out qualifying with a cracked chassis.  Once again on Sunday, as in Australia and China, Fernando showed his class to fight through from a pitlane start to an eventual 6^th place finish, despite the final lap controversy with Michael Schumacher.  He was aided by the Safety Car and clever tactics more than demon overtaking for this result, but it is more essential points.  However, if Alonso loses the title by less than ten points, he will look back on this grave error on Saturday morning as the death knell in his championship charge.

Mercedes GP - Too Many Mistakes Are Hurting Them

Once again, it was a hard luck story for Mercedes GP in Monaco, with traffic errors in qualifying ruining their race prospects.  Nico Rosberg was quickest by some margin in Q2, but inadvertently blocked his team-mate Michael Schumacher on his best lap, and then lost the tyre temperature on his final run to launch a significant challenge.  Instead of giving Red Bull headaches for the front row, the German challenge wound up back in 6^th and 7^th.  Schumacher was highly critical of Rosberg, and Rosberg looked incredibly frustrated by another missed opportunity.  On raceday, Rubens Barrichello jumped them both off the line, finishing off any outside hopes of a podium challenge.  A meagre 7^th placed finish for Rosberg must be seen to the team as really disappointing.  Too many mistakes are hurting Mercedes and I now can’t see them launching any significant championship bid in either title battle.  Monaco could have been a turning point in their season, but instead it was just another backwards step from last year’s champions, in their Brawn GP guise.

Rubens Barrichello - How Not To Lose Your Cool!

In an F1 career, spanning nearly 300 races, Rubens Barrichello has been a lucky boy down the years, as apart from his horror shunt on the nightmare Imola weekend of 1994, he hasn’t had many brutal smashes down the years.  Sunday’s shunt in Monaco therefore must be seen as one of his biggest.  Barrichello was in top-form this weekend, doing well to make Q3 in the underperforming Williams, then rising up to 6^th with a great start.  Though he dropped behind the Mercedes pair after the pitstops, solid points were up for grabs until Lap 29, when a sudden failure of his right-rear tyre, saw the disintegrating wheel buckle underneath his car, and send him into two hard smashes with the guardrail on the run up to Massenet.  It was lucky that no cameramen, photographers or the closing cars, Vitantonio Liuzzi or Sebastian Buemi were struck by any debris from the Brazilian’s out-of-control Williams.  However, his next action was petulant and unnecessary.  Rubens tossed out his steering wheel, which was later run over by both Hispania F1 entries, which could have had worse consequences.  The stewards didn’t penalise Barrichello for this, which shows what a rubbish day they had, as he had no regard for anyone else’s safety.  A fine and slap on the wrist should have been fully merited.  This was the perfect way not to lose your cool.

Jarno Trulli - Retirement Beckons?

The two Lotus drivers are a total different breed at the moment, and for Jarno Trulli, he looks like he doesn’t want to be driving such a slow machine anymore.  Heikki Kovalainen is driving out of his skin at the moment, always with a smile on his face and very optimistic with the future, totally understanding that the Lotus plan is a long-term venture.  Quite clearly, Trulli wants instant progress and that doesn’t happen overnight.  An absolutely daft attempt to pass Karun Chandok’s Hispania into Rascasse with four laps to go showed he might have been thinking about growing more wine in his vineyard over in Italy.  It could have had terrible outcomes for Chandok, with Trulli’s errant chassis nearly striking the poor Indian on the head.  This incident sums up Jarno’s season, and if he doesn’t want to be in the circus anymore, he should walk before he takes Lotus’s promising morale with him.  I can’t see him lining up on the grid much sooner if he continues to put in these clumsy overtaking attempts and sleepy performances.

Sticky Airguns and a Near Fatal Outcome - A Weekend to Forget For The New Boys

For the new boys, Monaco just showed how far they are off the pace in what is turning out to be a trying season.  Having shown some improvements in the early flyaway races, Hispania have gone miles off the pace.  In fact, some GP2 cars were lapping faster around the streets than Karun Chandok and Bruno Senna, which must question the wisdom why, are they in the sport?  Virgin’s ridiculous season continued, with both Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi drowning at sea, in a car that is handling ugly and quite frankly, a tortoise has more chance of finishing a race at the moment.  Lotus has shown gradual improvement, especially with Heikki Kovalainen at the wheel, but they haven’t made the steps they were hoping for, both in reliability and speed.  None of the six drivers in the new teams finished, due to a catalogue of problems, including wonky suspensions, sticky airguns and outrageous overtaking passes.  Although I feel sorry for some of these drivers, namely Chandok and di Grassi for the equipment they have, these teams must buck up their ideas now; otherwise the 107% regulation needs to make an urgent return.  Only Kovalainen is giving them any valuable credit so far this season, which is disappointing to say.

Force India - Quiet, But Staying Out Of Trouble

Force India haven’t made a dramatic impact on the 2010 Formula One season so far, but they are staying out of trouble and consequently, are regular points scorers.  Only in China they haven’t registered a point so far this season and their first double points finish of the campaign will give the Silverstone-based team some more confidence of greater improvements.  Adrian Sutil is a changed man from last season.  Sutil has always been fast, but had a massive tendency to get involved in stupid accidents/collisions.  This year, he has calmed down, matured more and the results are starting to deliver.  Had it not been for a poor qualifying session, Adrian might have well been fighting for the top six in the race.  By contrast, Vitantonio Liuzzi has been coming under stern pressure from the Scot test driver Paul di Resta for his drive.  Following two excellent points showings early on, Liuzzi’s form has taken a major nosedive, with forgettable weekends in Shanghai and Barcelona.  However, the Italian reminded us what he could do in Monte Carlo, by outqualifying Sutil, making the top ten and finishing 9^th, having matched Sutil all weekend.  This was a very quiet, but encouraging weekend for Force India.  Watch them fly on the lower-downforce circuits such as Montreal, Spa and Monza later in the season; they could be serious podium contenders very soon. 

Six Races In - What Have We Learned So Far & What's To Come!

So, with one-third of the season complete, what have we learned so far?  Well, Red Bull are miles infront of the rest of the competition and have set some worryingly alarm bells off at many of their rival factories.  After a brilliant start in Bahrain, Ferrari has gone steadily backwards, and only luck is keeping them right in the thick of the title battle.  McLaren had a weekend to forget in Monte Carlo, and still need better qualifying pace.  However, their race pace is still a strong note, and they could well turn into McLaren’s closest challengers.  Renault, Force India and Toro Rosso have been surprises, whilst Williams and particularly Sauber need serious improvements fast, otherwise they will be cut off completely from the midfield group.  Webber, Vettel, Kubica, Rosberg and Kovalainen are the star drivers so far in 2010, whilst the likes of Schumacher, Hulkenberg, Massa, Kobayashi and Buemi need to up their game.  Istanbul is next, one of Tilke’s best tracks, and then comes a welcome return to Montreal, which always provides classic events.  There is a load more to come in F1 2010, it has been a encouraging start to the new formula.

2010 Monaco Grand Prix - Marvellous Mark is the King of the Streets

Seven days after his untouchable performance in Barcelona, Mark Webber produced another invincible drive to be the toast of Monaco’s glamorous principality.  He coasted home around the demanding streets of Monte Carlo to lead home a Red Bull Racing 1-2, and with it, and equal share for the lead of the drivers’ championship.

As Webber was back-flipping into the swimming pool at Red Bull’s hospitality lounge, doused in the victory champagne, a bigger storm involving an old Formula One rivalry is sadly, the talk of the town.  Though not racing on the track anymore, the bitterness is still felt between Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher, nearly sixteen years after that infamous collision in Adelaide, which decided the 1994 World Championship.  Tonight, Schumacher and his Mercedes team have every right to be aggrieved with the FIA stewards, which Hill was on the panel for this weekend, as what looked to be wonderful piece of opportunism in the dying stages on Fernando Alonso has been rewarded with a 20-second penalty and a relegation to 12^th place in the final classification. 

All the drama began with four laps to go, when a daft overtaking attempt by the experienced Jarno Trulli ended with his Lotus embedded on Karun Chandok’s Hispania at the tight La Rascasse hairpin, the scene of Schumacher’s famous roadblock during qualifying for the 2006 event.  The Safety Car was sent out and came in on the last lap, but Schumacher spotted an opportunity and a loophole in the new FIA 2010 Safety Car regulations.  Exiting the hairpin, Alonso got a slide on his evil-handling Ferrari and Michael drew alongside, completing his overtaking move into the final Anthony Noades bend.  However, onboard footage definitely sees the Spaniard ahead of the Mercedes as he crosses the ‘white line’ overtaking zone.  Ferrari claims that this regulation is nullified on the final lap, whilst Mercedes and Ross Brawn disagree venomously and have served an intention to appeal.  This issue will drag all the way to Istanbul in a fortnight’s time.

It is a shame that this controversy takes the gloss on another perfect weekend from Webber, who led every tour of the 78-lap spectacular.  Despite four Safety Cars, he was in total command throughout.  Team-mate Sebastian Vettel was outclassed again by the more experienced Aussie, but his pass on front-row starter Robert Kubica at the start was all needed to secure a fabulous 1-2 for the Austrian registered team, based in Milton Keynes.  Vettel and Webber share the lead in the drivers’ championship, as Alonso battled to an (as it stands) 6^th place finish, from a pitlane start.  Previous championship leader and 2009 winner Jenson Button had a nightmare weekend, only qualifying 8^th, dropping to 11^th on the first lap, then was out on lap three, with a cooked engine, caused by some cooling device not removed by his McLaren team before the installation lap.  Unsurprisingly, he was far from impressed with this fundamental error.

On a track where he normally delivers, Lewis Hamilton could only manage 5^th, exactly where he started, as McLaren has a poor time of things, managing tyre temperature.  Despite losing second off the line to Vettel, Kubica capped a fine weekend off with his second podium of 2010, completing a Renault grand slam of the rostrum for the first time since the 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix.  Felipe Massa had a better weekend, finishing a solid 4^th for Ferrari, with Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Sebastian Buemi benefiting from Schumacher’s demotion to all score valuable points.  In Liuzzi’s case, it was a reminder of his talent, as he is under severe pressure to hang onto his seat at Force India and for Buemi, his first score of a troubled campaign.

Attrition was high in Monaco, with only half the starters finishing.  Amongst the DNF’s were all six of the three new teams, and both Williams cars of Nico Hulkenberg and Rubens Barrichello, retiring through spectacular shunts which deployed two Safety Cars and leaves the Grove team with a race against time to rebuild both chassis for Istanbul in a fortnight’s time.

It is a shame when fantastic and brave overtaking is not rewarded, especially in a sport that craves for it under the new regulations, and Damon Hill’s position and integrity must come under question, as his interference must have something to do with Michael Schumacher’s downfall, considering their previous biased history.  However, for Mark Webber and Red Bull Racing, it was the ultimate tour de force, and their dominance here could well be a fair reflection on how the rest of the season will shape up.  Ferrari and McLaren’s message is clear, ‘Catch us if you can!’