MotoGP 2011 review - A season to forget for many

THE 2011 MotoGP season came to a conclusion in Valencia during last weekend and for many, it will be a season to forget.  Casey Stoner’s sensational domination will be remembered, as will the surprising struggles of Valentino Rossi at Ducati, but it was tragedy that will sadly be the overriding memory of the season.

LOST: The life of Marco Simoncelli will not be forgotten

       Marco Simoncelli’s death at the penultimate race in Malaysia brought worldwide shock to the paddock and the whole of motorsport.  His accident was a freakish one and it is a sight that no-one will want to see again for a long time.  The Italian was a flamboyant rider, a charismatic man who was full of flair and nothing was the ordinary for him.  He was coming into his prime within the sport, putting together a string of consistent finishes.  Let’s be honest, he didn’t do quiet.  His first podium in Brno was one of the highlights of the season and his ride to second place in Phillip Island a week before the fateful events in Malaysia underlined his quality.  The early season madness of Jerez, Estoril and Silverstone was nothing more than a distant memory.  The sport has been denied one of its greatest talents, but Marco’s legacy will remain for a long time.  Ciao Marco!

     However, sport moves on and a broken Gresini team have gone onto name Alvaro Bautista as Simoncelli’s replacement for next season.  Bautista has ended a two year stint at Suzuki, which was plagued by far too many injuries and accidents.  When he stayed on the bike, he showed his potential as a young talent coming through, underlined by a fifth place finish at Silverstone, but he made too many rash mistakes this campaign.  Bautista wasn’t the only rider to end up disappointing this campaign.  The Premac Ducati team had a nightmare season, with Randy de Puniet often finishing in the gravel and Loris Capirossi sadly soldering on through his final season in motorcycling.  At times, Hector Barbera outperformed the works Ducati’s with some excellent qualifying performances, but at other occasions, he disappeared into thin air.  Ultimately, his campaign will have to go down as a major disappointment.

     To be honest, Ducati had a miserable season altogether.  The team only managed two podiums all season.  Nicky Hayden came a fortunate third in the rain-affected Jerez event, whilst Valentino Rossi benefited from a controversial clash between Dani Pedrosa and Simoncelli in Le Mans to also net a third place result.  Their season ended miserably; both riders in the gravel in turn one in Valencia and Hayden missing the final season test through a fractured wrist.  Hayden’s season was a struggle, but he outqualified Rossi more often than not and got the bulk of Ducati’s strongest results, as third in Jerez and fourth at Silverstone would underline.  I was very surprised by Rossi’s struggles this season.  The Ducati is a very hard machine to set up and riders such as Marco Melandri and Hayden have struggled in the past, but Rossi really couldn’t seem to adapt as much as I thought he would.  Taking Stoner down in Jerez was one of the most dramatic moments of the season, but showed the issues he had with the frontend of the bike.  Plus, similar incidents later in the season would point that fact out.  Seventh place in the final standings is his worst performance since 2000 and The Doctor has a lot of soul searching to do over the course of the winter.

     Rossi’s replacement at Yamaha was the American, Ben Spies.  Spies produced a dominant performance in Assen to register his first MotoGP victory.  He also was a fine third at his home event in Indianapolis and nearly recorded another triumph in the final event at the weekend, but for poor traction off the final corner.  However, he will be glad for the break, having been battered and bruised throughout.  Spies crashed out in Portugal, Silverstone and Jerez and practice accidents ruled him out of the Australian and Malaysian events.  On his day, he proved his worth as a top rider, but was missing the consistency that Yamaha required.  Defending champion Jorge Lorenzo put up a brave fight throughout the season, on a bike that was nowhere near the fastest.  He won three times in 2011 and although he inherited the Jerez win, when Stoner and Simoncelli crashed, he put in some memorable performances to win against the odds, most notably in Mugello, on a Honda powered circuit.  However, his crash in the rain of Silverstone saw him lose the early advantage he built up in the championship and he would never regain it.  A nasty crash in warm-up for the Australian event saw Lorenzo’s finger needing surgery to prevent amputation and ended his charge three races early.  His class in 2011 did show through, and he will be keeping his remaining fingers crossed that Yamaha produce a better package for him next season.  On the customer Tech-3 bikes, Colin Edwards claimed a memorable podium at Silverstone, only eight days after breaking his collarbone in a practice accident for the Catalunya round.  Sadly, he was involved in the accident that claimed Simoncelli’s life and only time will tell next season to see how the Texan Tornado has been affected.  Rookie Cal Crutchlow was another rider to have his fair share of spills, but raced brilliantly at the final event in Valencia to secure fourth place, his best finish of a solid year, even if his promise was at times, unfulfilled.

     This leaves us with the Repsol Honda riders.  Dani Pedrosa suffered another injury-hit season and mysteriously disappeared from the action when he tangled with Simoncelli at Le Mans.  He broke his collarbone, but seemed to take longer than what was needed to return to racing.  Then, it was the same old story from Pedrosa, producing some stunning performances which brought victories in Portugal and Germany, along with times where he didn’t look interested such as Australia.  Although he didn’t win a round, Andrea Dovizioso produced a very consistent season, with many podiums and very few accidents.  He might have been the slowest of the works Honda riders, but fully deserved third place in the championship.  He has been dropped for 2012, but Honda’s loss will be Tech-3 Yamaha’s gain and Crutchlow will know that he must raise his game against the talented Dovizioso next season.

     However, the final word belongs to the dominant champion.  Casey Stoner left Ducati behind, as he was convinced that they didn’t have the necessary equipment to fulfil his needs.  The way Rossi has struggled to handle the bike suggests that the Australian must have been doing minor miracles in recent seasons.  On a Honda, he looked totally at ease and incredibly formidable.  From the moment he cruised to victory in the Qatar season opener, there was never any doubt he was going to end up as the no.1 at the end of the season.  When he could win, he would win and when the points were needed, he took the points such as second in Assen and third places in both Mugello and Portugal.  He is a deserved champion and a brilliant rider and the rest have a lot to do if they are to match him in 2012.

FINAL POINTS

Casey Stoner - The 2011 MotoGP world champion

Casey Stoner 350, Jorge Lorenzo 260, Andrea Dovizioso 228, Dani Pedrosa 219, Ben Spies 176, Marco Simoncelli 139, Valentino Rossi 139, Nicky Hayden 132, Colin Edwards 109, Hiroshi Aoyama 98, Hector Barbera 82, Cal Crutchlow 70, Alvaro Bautista 67, Karel Abraham 64, Toni Elias 61, Randy de Puniet 49, Loris Capirossi 43, Katsuzuki Nakasunga 10, Josh Hayes 9, Kousake Akiyoshi 7, John Hopkins 6, Shinchi Ito 3

UTC partnership highlights University of Northampton's ambitions

By Simon Wright (University Q&A)

KNOWLEDGE: Expert tuition from engineers in top teams will benefit students

THE recent news of the partnership between Silverstone Circuits, the University of Northampton and Tresham College has not only highlighted the ambitions that the University of Northampton has for the future, but will give students new opportunities to learn from the experts.  The agreement will see a new University Technical College open up within the next two years, with as many as 580 students between the ages of 14-19 benefiting from the new options that will come from it.  Yesterday, I had the privilege to interview the vice-chancellor at the University of Northampton, Nick Petford who was very excited about the link-up and indicated that the future is very bright, not only for the people of Northamptonshire, but the options University Technical Colleges will bring in the future.

Simon: First question Nick, is how excited are you about the link-up between the University and Silverstone?

Nick Petford: I am very excited about it.  We’ve had good relations with Silverstone prior to the UTC announcement.  We’ve had people from fashion working down there, Science & Technology and students from the business school on events management courses but this is an opportunity to put it all together.  It will really make a different for the people of Northamptonshire and outside as well.  It won’t just be for Northampton, it’s going to be so successful that it will be a national project.

SW: For those unsure about the partnership, can you go into a bit more detail about the partnership within the three parties involved?

NP: As a University, we have four partner colleges who we work with on strategic stuff.  One of them is Tresham College, who are based up in Corby and we started discussions with Corby a couple of years ago about a project that might have ended up with a University in Corby.  That didn’t get very far due to funding but then the University Technical College came on the scene and because Tresham already do some teaching down at Silverstone around engineering.  So, it was a chance for us to come together and start to think about how we can develop a really exciting partnership between Silverstone, the University and Tresham around a 14-19 year old curriculum. 

SW: What is the planned date for opening this technical college?

NP: The planned date is 2012, but that’s what they (Central Government) want to happen.  Whether that will be possible will depend on getting planning permission, on how to start building it, so all of that has to happen and whether that timescale is feasible, I don’t know.  It might be 2013.

SW: What types of students are most likely to benefit from the link-up?

NP:  Well, these UTC’s are actually schools.  You start at 14 years old and you leave when you are 19, so it goes into the traditional A level territory.  So, they will have to teach part of the National Curriculum and it will be teachers, not so much University staff.  There will be standard GCSE’s, such as Maths and Science, but where we will be able to help is that through the maths curriculum and the science curriculum will be geared towards motorsports.  I think the great thing as a kid will be sitting there thinking why are we learning this and you might get someone from McLaren saying; ‘You’re learning this because this is how our car works,’ and you will need to learn the maths of engines and aerodynamics, the pressures and so on.  So, it’s a very exciting opportunity.  It won’t be for everyone, but if you are saying why you are bothering with this, well you’re bothering because it’s what an employer wants and that employer could be Red Bull.

SW: How many people will be allowed to train for these opportunities?

NP: There will be about 550 at Silverstone.  Whether it will be that number when it starts in 2012 or 2013, we don’t know.  It will depend on how we build it up, so it might be a smaller intake to start with, but ultimately when it is all up and running, I’d say 550, maybe as many as 580 students.

SW: What is the background of University Technical Colleges, as I know this is something that you and the University are keen on pushing forward?

NP: The background comes from Lord Baker (Kenneth Baker) who was a minister in the government a few years ago.  The whole philosophy behind them is to develop vocational learning and make it as excellent and as aspired as more traditional academic learning.  There is still the feeling that the traditional A level/GCSE standard is where the more attention is and where the kudos lies, whereas doing the BTEC/Vocational route is not quite seen in the same standard.  So this is an opportunity to make vocational education through UTC’s as well respected and well received as a more traditional academic route is seen today. 

SW: Final question, with the link-up in place, how big is this news and how does it state the University’s future ambitions for 2012 and beyond?

NP: That’s a really good question.  I think what is says is that it plays perfectly to the University’s ambition and strategy  about being a vocational University and takes employability amongst its students very seriously and it wants to be a very different University from more traditional institutions.  As I explained with the GCSE v Vocational route in schools, it’s similar in Universities across the UK.  Some Universities offer more standard, academic courses and others go down the vocational route and sometimes, there’s been a bit of an imbalance.  So, this give us a chance on the vocational side of things to really spread our wings and start to offer the life-changing opportunities which I think UTC’s can do.  It’s spreading our mission, speaks to what we do and what we are about and also offer a pipeline for kids to come through from UTC’s to University if that’s what they want to do once they finish their UTC studies.

An odd and tricky week

By Simon Wright (Personal piece)

I FEEL at the end of this week to be in a far more positive frame of mind about events, but even I have to admit, it has been an odd week for many of us.  It’s seen its fair share of sad events, which affected me and also brought tragedy on the University of Northampton.  I think this week has reminded everyone of the real perspectives in life because at the end of the day, no-one knows what is around the corner.

       Having believed that last week and the start of my third and final Uni year had been a blip extended into Monday.  It really shouldn’t have, but it did and again, I only have myself to blame.  I was buzzing last weekend, until I heard the tragic news of the crash in America that claimed the life of British racing driver Dan Wheldon in Las Vegas.  I didn’t take it well at all and seeing the accident really shook me up.  Throughout Monday, the crash video on YouTube kept replaying through my head and I lost my focus of the bigger picture, which was bad.  I’ve seen a tribute programme that Sky Sports did last night to the Brit, who won the prestigious Indy 500 event twice, which is a unique achievement.  He touched many people’s lives in motorsport and he will leave a legacy through that community and his many fans that have been saddened by his loss.  So, why did it affect me so much?  Basically, I’ve never witnessed death in motorsport, which as people who know me, is a passion of mine.  Throw in the fact that he was British and grew up in the tiny village of Emberton, within my hometown of Milton Keynes and that made me worse.  Now if that makes me an odd person; for me to love my hometown and British motorsport, then I’m sorry, but that’s who I am and whoever doesn’t like it, I don’t care.  In these instances, I’m a private person, couldn’t really share my thoughts on this sort of thing and that wasn’t a good thing.  As the week has gone on, I’ve felt better and more within myself, but I just didn’t feel like buzzing or smiling my face off on Monday.  I didn’t feel like it, no point faking it in my view.  In spite of that, I should have shown more motivation and belief in myself on Monday and had to have a serious think about myself that evening.  I wasn’t coming across well and it was time to refocus my energy and effort – no more excuses.

      For me, the rest of the week has ended up being far more positive.  A lot of my journalism course buddies are beginning to take stock of the fact that Twitter is turning into such a useful source for communication and keeping up-to-date with the news.  I got a BlackBerry last week (whilst all the signal problems were occurring) and can’t keep myself away from Twitter.  I will now aim to use this far more often than Facebook, especially for professional standards.  Note to self; no good moaning on Twitter now, just in case you get a famous journalist following you!  Maybe my tweet on Scottish poet Robert Browning in midweek wasn’t my smartest move, but there you go!

      I also feel that I made a significant breakthrough with my dissertation this week.  Although things had been going well, they had stalled in the past fortnight and I was in desperate need of gaining more research and academic references from books.  As a course, we have been strictly told to not rely on the internet, as it isn’t a preferable source.  The tutors are expecting between 10-15 books to be used in bibliographies come marking time and I only had six.  It wasn’t looking great, especially as books cost a load of money, which is always a commodity in this day and age.  I went to the Uni library in midweek and found far more useful information and books that I could have imagined.  Not only do I feel that I have saved a fair bit of money, which might have turned into a complete waste, but I feel that I have now made significant progress to begin typing up my first chapter next week, which is encouraging.

PARTNERSHIP: Me and Farida both know what it takes

      The post-group meeting from the Silverstone trip went fairly well too, despite my dismal mood on Monday.  Ideas have been drawn up for all three aspects that my group has to do now and I’d say we are in a strong position with at least two of the practical elements now.  The TV side of things isn’t looking fantastic as I write this, but that has the element to be changed, especially when you have the best journalist on the course that will always give 100 per cent and is working incredibly hard full stop.  No, I am not talking about myself here, I’m talking about Farida.  I don’t say much about friends on here, in case it embarrasses them, but this is what I will say about Farida.  She is committed to the cause, dedicated to her profession and has done so many work placements in the past two years; she has taken so much from them.  I’ve never seen anyone who I’ve gone through the education ladder as motivated and driven as her and I know that she is going places in journalism.  Plus, she is such a caring, trusting and respectful individual too.  In third year, I am slowly coming around to the belief like those Coca Cola adverts of ‘Eat football, sleep football, and drink Coca Cola!’  My motto for this is ‘Live journalism, breath journalism, succeeding at journalism!’  I know Farida is already doing this and I’m lucky to have met someone like her who you can have a laugh with and share information, but can motivate and drive anyone to do even more.  Oh and for all fellow journalists out there, follow her on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/FaridaZeynalova, it’s a great feed for her emotions! 

      However, whilst some of us go from strength to strength, others have opportunities taken away from them.  I started this blog talking about an incident that affected me, so I’ll finish mentioning about the tragic events of the early hours of Wednesday morning.  I’m sure a lot of you have seen the news reports of the crush at the Lava: Ignite nightclub in Northampton which claimed the life of 22-year old student Nabila Nanfuka.  Nabila was a third year student at the University of Northampton, studying Leisure & Tourism.  I personally didn’t know her; I know some on our course did.  These sorts of incidents just show how life can be so precious to us and remind us of the cruel twists of fate that can just happen, when you don’t expect them to.  RIP Nabila and thoughts go out to her family and friends at what must be a very difficult time for them.  I know there was an emotional memorial service on one of the campuses yesterday and I do hope the University will do something to mark Nabila’s time of studying here.  She shouldn’t be forgotten by anyone who is currently studying at the University of Northampton.

      It’s been an odd week, full of ups and downs, satisfaction and vindication, fate and tragedy.  What will October’s final week bring; who’s to say, but hopefully a quieter week for everyone after this week’s dramas.  For me, this involves a flying visit home to Milton Keynes and I can’t wait!

Thank you for reading!

RIP Dan Wheldon and Nabila Nanfuka

Running on empty

By Simon Wright (Personal piece)

THE second week back at University has thrown down more challenges and has literally left my head in a spin.  As I sit here typing this out, I know I need to shape up and get things sorted out, otherwise I’m throwing my degree into the rubbish bin and that would be a massive shame.

PREPARATION: Frank Wrathall's Toyota is rolled out into the paddock

      Today saw the entire journalism group head down to the home of British motorsport, Silverstone.  The trip formed part of the main group project we have to do on motor racing in general, with today’s focus mainly on the finale of the British Touring Car Championship which takes place at Silverstone this weekend.  Preparing for the trip in the build-up and a lot of my colleagues couldn’t see the point of going.  I was remaining cautious about how it would go, but deep down, I was really excited.  I had never been to Silverstone, so this was a great opportunity and a fantastic chance to experience the motor racing scene from the pits, paddock and media centre.  By the day’s end, it felt like I was the only one who felt short-changed and fractionally disappointed and everyone else was in high spirits.  So, why did this happen?

      There are a number of reasons for this.  Some I will go into detail now and others I won’t.  The group I’m working in were hampered today by not having a tape to collect any video footage.  This was a frustrating experience and we missed out massively because of this.  What happened to the tape, I don’t honestly know.  Maybe we didn’t get one?  Perhaps it had been carelessly misplaced or maybe someone fancied using two tapes without checking.  Either way, it was a massive blow and means that unless some of the group make a return trip, the video part of the assignment is frankly, screwed up.  The main basis of the day was to take part in a media day challenge; which was to write a 300-word preview on the touring car finale this weekend.          The prize was tickets to the conclusion of the season on Sunday.  Unfortunately, our group didn’t win, which was a shame, but everyone was very phlegmatic in defeat.  

GLORY: My group (Rochelle, Farida & Tamika); three new podium contenders!

     Everyone knows that I am a competitive soul, always have been and always will be.  Of course I would have liked to have won, but we had a go and it didn’t work out.  I have learned to be ‘Magnanimous in victory, gracious in defeat.’  I congratulated the four winners; Amanda, Tom, Shamina and Rebecca on their deserved success and actually, the article is a very good choice and a clear winner.  The article that our group wrote was on the day, not strong enough.  You can read the excellent work of my fellow University colleagues on the official Silverstone website now at; http://www.silverstone.co.uk/news/latest-news/BTCC-news/Silverstone-revs-up-for-a-dramatic-finale/

     I didn’t gain any new contacts, which was disappointing and didn’t make as many visits as I would have liked around the area too.  We did though; interview one of the leading title contenders for this weekend’s event, Jason Plato.  Plato likes to speak his mind, but he was very helpful to us and was a pleasure to interview.  I asked him whether he would take more pride and satisfaction in a third title if it happened on Sunday.  His answer was thorough but very clear and understanding and I was pleased to have asked him such a well-thought question.  We also spoke to the BTCC series director, Alan Gow, who wasn’t giving away too much on how he thought Sunday would go, but was still a very useful interview.  The drivers and teams were all very friendly to us and that was nice.  So, it wasn’t all bad today.  However, I was expecting a bit more and when you don’t get it, you can’t help but feel a bit disappointed with the final experience and it’s best to be honest rather than grit through your teeth.

      I must admit, I haven’t prepared myself properly for the New Year and I think it is starting to take its toll on me.  I’m disappointed with myself to have fallen into old traps from last year and I can’t quite figure out why this is the case.  I probably assumed that it would be a slightly more relaxed start to year three of my degree and instead, it’s ‘Bang Bang, WHALLOP!’ from the outset.  Why did I not see this coming?  I set out high standards for myself and unfortunately, I’m not meeting up to these at the moment.  In fact, I’m not even close and need to turn things around.  Wednesday was a prime example.  I couldn’t help giggling over some of the hilarious jokes about the crashing of the BlackBerry server on Twitter, but after that, I lost concentration, motivation and all sense of direction in what I was doing.  Why did I do that?  My head wasn’t in the right place and I’m not talking literally here.  I am my harshest critic as I feel that it is the best I need to do, so I can achieve the best.  Maybe last year’s stinging criticism from my lecturers has hit me harder than I have let on.  I can’t change what happened last year; I must move on!

     I think an impending family anniversary hasn’t helped matters this week.  I don’t want to go into details, as it is a very personal matter and talking about it only makes things more emotional.  The issue affected me very closely at the time and I think it always will.  I was close to this person and looked up to them in a big way.  This time of year is always a difficult time for yours truly. 

     Hopefully next week, I will return to my old self – as I have let myself down this week.  The old me must return too, the focused and more relaxed me.  In March, I turned over a new leaf.  Nobody’s perfect, so let’s just hope this week was a blip on the agenda. 

Someone put me on charge, as I’m running on empty, it might help haha!

2011 British Grand Prix - Flying Fernando charges to British glory

DROUGHT: Ended today by a brilliant Alonso drive at Silverstone

QUICKER pace around the pitstops enabled Fernando Alonso and Ferrari to end their victory drought today.  The double world champion took his first win since last year’s Korean Grand Prix at Silverstone, benefiting from changes to the blowing off-air gases within the exhaust systems on the cars and upgrades on his Ferrari.  However, Sebastian Vettel still finished second to extend his championship lead to 80 points over his nearest challengers.

     The Formula One paddock arrived at Silverstone to greet the new pits and paddock complex.  ‘The Wing’ certainly was the perfect new modern facility for the home of British motorsport and with the typical British summer weather; everyone was greeted to changeable conditions all weekend.  Friday’s practice sessions were a washout, and both qualifying and the race were affected by brief rain showers. 

LEAD: Red Bull led the early stages, but they didn't win this time

     The damp circuit around the old start-finish straight meant that all the drivers took no risks and started on intermediate tyres.  Pole sitter Mark Webber lost his lead immediately with a poor getaway and this allowed runaway championship leader Vettel to blast into an immediate lead.  In the early stages, Lewis Hamilton wowed the home crowd with some smooth passes which saw him jump up from a disappointing tenth on the grid into fifth place by the end of the second lap.  The track began to rapidly dry out and with Michael Schumacher setting fastest sector times on dry tyres, the intermediates soon wore out and everyone pitted.  Schumacher didn’t help himself by losing his nosecone against Kamur Kobayashi’s Sauber at Brooklands, which resulted in a ten second stop-go penalty.

     At this stage of the grand prix, Vettel has things under control and the McLaren’s seemed to have more pace than the Ferrari’s.  Jenson Button, who had been at sea on intermediate tyres, pulled off an unbelievable overtake on Felipe Massa around the outside of Stowe corner.  A lap later, Hamilton achieved a similar and braver pass on Alonso into Copse to take third place.  However, Alonso’s pace picked up and he stayed out longer whilst others pitted.  He was helped by two poor Red Bull pitstops which allowed the Spaniard to jump into the lead.  Vettel was delayed by a KERS issue and a problem on the rear jack at his second stop, which relegated him to third behind Hamilton.

     For the next phase of the Grand Prix, Alonso showed searing pace and opened up an 11 second cushion over Hamilton, who did everything he could to hold off a much quicker Vettel.  However, Sebastian used the undercut, by pitting a lap earlier to regain second place.  Button would have been right in the mix too, but his left front mechanic dropped the wheel gun at his final stop.  His chief mechanic waved him away, but the wheel was clearly loose as he left the pits.  Wisely, Jenson stopped on the grass; bitterly disappointed to miss out on a podium attempt again at his home Grand Prix at the 12^th attempt of asking.  McLaren’s race began to unravel as Hamilton was told that he had to seriously conserve fuel in the final stage of the race to get to the chequered flag.  He had little alternative but to cede position to Webber, and it sent the race into two thrilling battles in the closing stages.

     Webber zeroed in on Vettel and ignored team instructions on four separate occasions to ‘maintain the gap!’  He attacked Vettel all the way to the finish and afterwards, his body language at being told over the radio to play second fiddle to his team-mate by Christian Horner spoke volumes.  A few seconds later, Massa went around the outside of Hamilton into the final Club corner and contact was made, damaging the McLaren’s front wing.  However, Lewis kept the inside line into Vale and as Felipe got a snap of oversteer out of the final corner, it allowed Hamilton the chance to keep his fourth place finish in a dramatic conclusion.  However, it was Alonso who took the top prize; his second British GP success (he won in 2006 for Renault) and his 27^th win of all-time, putting him level with Sir Jackie Stewart in the list.

     Behind the first five, Nico Rosberg and Sergio Perez had a race long tussle, with Rosberg coming out on top for sixth place.  Perez did extremely well, as he only made two pitstops and only just beat the pitlane exit at the start of the race after spinning off on the way to the grid.  Nick Heidfeld did well to finish eighth on a dire weekend for Renault, where the cars were miles off the pace.  Schumacher recovered to ninth and Jaime Alguesuari continued his revival with a third consecutive points scoring finish.  For Paul di Resta, it was another race of missed opportunities.  Having started sixth, he looked good for seventh before a mix-up over tyres at his pitstop and a clash with Sebastian Buemi damaged his front wing and eliminated the Toro Rosso driver.  The Scot finished 15^th. 

     For the first time this season, Red Bull were beaten on the day by a far superior package, rather than mistakes and strategy and although the championship battle is all over bar the shouting, everyone has seen today that Ferrari and Fernando Alonso now have a race winning package for the rest of the season.  The Scuderia will be hoping to continue their revival at the Nurburgring in a fortnight’s time.

F1 classic races - Britain

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 held at Silverstone between 1991 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1994

HOME: Success for Hill amidst controversy in 1994

WINNER: Damon Hill (Williams Renault), 2^nd: Jean Alesi (Ferrari), 3^rd: Mika Hakkinen (McLaren Peugeot)

MICHAEL Schumacher was coasting away with the 1994 championship, but lost his head at Silverstone, which turned the season on its head.  Having been beaten to pole by 0.003secs, Schumacher overtook Damon Hill’s Williams on the formation lap, not once – but twice!  Although he leapfrogged Hill at the first round of pitstops, Schumacher was shown the black flag on lap 22.  The Benetton team challenged the decision, with the German ignoring the order to come in and serve a five-second stop-go penalty for another seven laps.  Hill won the race, whilst Schumacher was disqualified afterwards and banned for two races for his transgression.  Mika Hakkinen earnt a much-needed podium for the McLaren team, despite a last lap run-in with Rubens Barrichello, but team-mate Martin Brundle’s Peugeot engine erupted in a ball of flame when the lights turned to green, leaving the Brit furious and stunned.

1995

WINNER: Johnny Herbert (Benetton Renault), 2^nd: Jean Alesi (Ferrari), 3^rd: David Coulthard (Williams Renault)

THE championship contenders clashed, which allowed the popular and usually unlucky Johnny Herbert to register his first ever Grand Prix win.  Damon Hill was on pole again, and led the early exchanges, but Benetton once again outdid Williams on strategy and had Michael Schumacher infront.  On lap 46, Hill, desperately wanting to take advantage of fresher tyres, made a desperate dive up the inside into the Priory bend and took the pair off into the gravel.  Hill insisted it was a racing incident, whilst the champion pointed the blame squarely at Damon’s door.  Herbert inherited the lead, but lost it to David Coulthard.  However, the Scot got a pitlane speeding penalty and dropped to third, so Herbert got his lead back and won the event.  Rubens Barrichello had a lucky escape when his Jordan nearly flipped the gravel trap after late contact with the McLaren of Mark Blundell.

1998

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 2^nd: Mika Hakkinen (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)

FORTY laps into the 1998 race and Michael Schumacher’s chances can’t have looked great.  On a wet day, his Ferrari was no match for the dominant McLaren’s of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.  However, Coulthard spun off on a puddle whilst lapping the Benetton of Giancarlo Fisichella.  With the rain level intensifying, Hakkinen spun off at Bridge and did some front wing damage to his car.  The Safety Car was deployed and Mika’s 40 second lead was washed away.  On lap 51, he ran wide at Becketts and Schumacher powered past, opening up a 20 second lead.  However, rather than a time penalty, he was wrongly given a ten second stop-go penalty with three laps to go.  The offence was for passing Alexander Wurz under waved yellows whilst Jos Verstappen’s Stewart was recovered.  On the last lap, Schumacher entered the pitlane to serve his penalty, crossing the startline in the process.  He effectively won the race in the pitlane.  McLaren appealed the result, but lost in the Court of Appeal, meaning Schumacher made it three wins in a row.  

1999

WRECKED: Schumacher's title hopes after his 1999 failure

WINNER: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Eddie Irvine (Ferrari), 3^rd: Ralf Schumacher (Williams Supertec)

DAVID Coulthard’s first triumph at Silverstone was overshadowed by the accident that ruined Michael Schumacher’s title chances.  Schumacher made a bad start from the front row of the grid and dropped behind Coulthard and team-mate Eddie Irvine.  As red flags were waving due to the stalled cars of Jacques Villeneuve and Alex Zanardi, Schumacher went to overtake Irvine on the Hangar Straight when he suffered a rear brake failure and pitched off the road at Stowe gravel trap, hitting the tyre barriers head-first.  Despite attempting to exit the cockpit on his own, the German realised his leg was trapped in the wreckage and had to be treated by marshals with a broken tibia and fibula in his right leg.  On the restart, Mika Hakkinen led away, but lost a wheel and was forced to retire with a faulty wheel hub.  Irvine overshot his pit box on his first stop, handing the lead and the race to an overjoyed Coulthard.  Considering he didn’t know the well-being of his brother, Ralf Schumacher raced brilliantly to a podium result for the Williams team and Damon Hill led a lap and finished a fighting fifth on his final British Grand Prix appearance.

2003

WINNER: Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), 2^nd: Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams BMW), 3^rd: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes)

RUBENS Barrichello won a crazy race in 2003, after pulling off some stunning overtaking manoeuvres.  He started from pole, but slipped to eighth on lap 11 as crazed religious lunatic Neil Horan ran onto the Hangar Straight and started waving signs about the bible as the cars were doing almost 200mph.  The Safety Car was sent out and the scramble saw the likes of Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso tumbling down the order.  Barrichello produced amazing passes on Ralf Schumacher, Trulli and Kimi Raikkonen and was a great winner of a great race which was full of overtaking.  Raikkonen ran wide at Stowe with 11 laps to go, gifting Montoya second place.  Michael Schumacher fought back from 14^th place to fourth to maintain his title advantage.  By use of a lucky strategy, 2002 CART champion Cristiano da Matta did a great job to lead the race for 17 laps, before finishing seventh.

2008

WINNER: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), 3^rd: Rubens Barrichello (Honda)

UNDER pressure from two dismal performances in Canada and France, Lewis Hamilton arrived at Silverstone in desperate need for a result.  He produced a mesmerizing drive to win by an entire minute, lapping at times, some seven seconds a lap faster than anyone else.  His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen claimed his first ever pole position, but was all at sea on raceday and finished a lapped fifth.  Hamilton was under pressure from Kimi Raikkonen early on, but Ferrari made the decision to keep Kimi on old tyres and the move backfired.  Raikkonen dropped down to 11^th, before recovering to fourth.  Renault made a similar mistake with Fernando Alonso, which left the Spaniard down in sixth.  At the height of a tropical downpour, Nelson Piquet and Robert Kubica were caught out and lost possible podium finishes.  With championship leader Felipe Massa having a dire day, spinning five times and ending up last, this allowed the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld and Honda’s Rubens Barrichello to take the final two podium positions.  Barrichello’s came from 16^th on the grid, when the Honda team took a gamble on extreme wet weather tyres and started lapping 15 seconds quicker than the midfield.  However, the 2008 British Grand Prix belonged to McLaren and Lewis Hamilton who showed he was the new ‘rain master.’

Britain MotoGP 2011: Stoner storms it in Silverstone showers

CASEY Stoner became the overwhelming favourite for the MotoGP championship in 2011, after earning his third successive victory.  He produced a peerless display at a rain-sodden Silverstone to take the championship lead for the first time since the opening round in Qatar.  His closest championship rival Jorge Lorenzo crashed out, a rare error from the world champion.

HEARTBREAK: For Crutchlow, as he missed his home event

     The British weather was certainly unkind yesterday across the country, but Cal Crutchlow was already out of luck.  The Tech Speed Yamaha rider, preparing for his first home grand prix, crashed heavily in the first five minutes of Saturday’s qualifying session.  As soon as he went down, Crutchlow was clutching his shoulder, clearly in agony.  The diagnosis of his injury was the same one which Colin Edwards picked up last weekend in Catalunya, a fractured collarbone.  A sick Crutchlow went to hospital in Oxfordshire, gutted to miss the event he must have been looking forward to the most in his rookie season.  Edwards was fit to ride, but Dani Pedrosa was still missing, with suspicions flying around the paddock that he has had a training accident in Spain and done further damage to the collarbone he initially fractured at last month’s French Grand Prix.

     Stoner took pole position, but was beaten down to turn one by Lorenzo and the Honda of Andrea Dovizioso.  Lorenzo quickly lost the lead to both works Honda riders, and although Dovizioso was ahead across the stripe for the first time, Stoner nailed him in the Abbey complex on the second lap and took off from there.  Dovizioso was left to fend off Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli, but both ended up making costly mistakes.  Lorenzo caught a puddle on the exit of the first corner, and he high-sided off his bike.  The Yamaha more looked like Bambi after he was born, rather than a competitive bike on the impact, Jorge lucky to escape injury, just damaged pride for the world champion; his first DNF since the 2009 Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.  It was a miserable day for Yamaha as seconds before Lorenzo’s dramatic exit, Ben Spies, clearly looking uncomfortable in the Northamptonshire rain, crashed at Copse.  Although complaining of back pain, Spies was given the all-clear in the medical centre afterwards.

     A few laps afterwards, Simoncelli made his customary exit.  He hit standing water on the approach to the first corner, and slid off his Gresini Honda bike with a one-way ticket, into the barriers.  It was a stupid crash, as his maiden podium was there for the taking.  The way Simoncelli rides is sensational, but he is an accident just waiting to happen.  It is already his third crash from six races in 2011.  These demises meant Dovizioso had an unchallenged ride into second place.  The most popular cheer was for Edwards, who rode through the pain barrier and wound up with a thoroughly deserved podium for the battered Tech Speed crew.  Fellow countryman Nicky Hayden was a strong fourth at Silverstone for the second year running, with Suzuki finally getting a well-merited result; Alvaro Bautista in fifth.  Having started a woeful 13^th, Valentino Rossi had a very flat weekend, but survived the weather to finish sixth.  However, he did lap upto five seconds a lap slower than Stoner on a number of occasions, which highlights the significant amount of work that Ducati have to do if they want to get on terms with Honda. 

     This could turn into a significant weekend for the 2011 MotoGP season.  Casey Stoner is looking invincible at the moment.  Hopefully, we will have a full grid and no significant injuries at the Dutch TT in Assen in a fortnight’s time.

F1 2011 preview (Part 2)

THE new Formula One season begins this weekend, two weeks later than initially planned.  The Australian Grand Prix takes over the mantelpiece of the F1 opener, after Bahrain’s cancellation, following the current unrest in the Middle East.  With another big shake-up in the rules, another new race in India to look forward to and a rather stable driver market this time around, 2011 can beat the drama of 2010.  Can Sebastian Vettel defend his title?  Will Fernando Alonso bounce back from last year’s Abu Dhabi heartbreak?  How will Renault fare without Robert Kubica?  Is Michael Schumacher going to prove his critics wrong?  Have McLaren been sandbagging in testing?  All the talking stops this weekend in Albert Park, so here’s the inside guide.  

Force India Mercedes

14           Adrian Sutil (GER)

15           Paul di Resta (BRI)

As 2010 continued, Force India dropped down the pecking order and 2011 could turn into a very tough one for the Silverstone-based team.  The loss of key technical staff is James Key and Mark Smith has hit the team hard and testing form suggests that they could be looking backwards rather than forwards in the incoming campaign.  Adrian Sutil is a proven point’s scorer and ditched his accident-prone image last year to score some solid points results.  He will do well to match his best results of 5^th in Malaysia and Spa last season.  After four seasons in DTM, culminating in the 2010 championship, Scot Paul di Resta joins the grid.  He deserves his chance, and is bound to be more of a match for Sutil than Vitantonio Liuzzi ever was.  However, the car’s ultimate lack of pace could be the downfall for these two talented racers.

Sauber-Ferrari

16           Kamur Kobayashi (JPN)

17           Sergio Perez (MEX)

The distinctive feature of the Sauber last year was no sponsorship whatsoever.  However, with rich Mexican businessman Carlos Slim onboard, that changes in 2011.  Young Mexican Sergio Perez’s arrival is a interesting move, as it means there will be a lack of experience on the driver front.  Perez looks either fast or wreckless and he is bound to add a lot of flair and charisma to the team.  They have plenty of that in Kamur Kobayashi already.  The Japanese is expected to thrill everyone again with his no holds barred attitude of driving and has all the talent in the world, if he tones down on the wackiness that can lead the Japanese into serious trouble.  The car looks very promising but it may need early development if they wish to be regular point’s scorers.

Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari

18           Sebastian Buemi (SUI)

19           Jaime Alguesuari (SPA)

The departures of Gerhard Berger and Sebastian Vettel hit Toro Rosso very hard at the end of 2008, and they haven’t recovered since.  The car looks very strong and far more consistent than its previous challengers.  Even Lewis Hamilton has told the media to keep a watch on them.  Sebastian Buemi enters his third season and was a massive disappointment last season.  The Swiss driver is under pressure to deliver, especially with the highly-rated Daniel Ricciardo waiting in the wings as third driver.  Buemi will need to perform from the off, if he doesn’t want to go the same way as Scott Speed and Sebastian Bourdais; in earning the sack mid-season.  Plus, we know Franz Tost doesn’t accept any excuses.  Jamie Alguesuari is in a slightly more secure position and has the knack to pull off some daring overtaking moves.  He needs to improve his qualifying performances, and eliminate some of the careless driving which you’d expect to see from a rush hour driver on the M25’s hard shoulder!  With Ricciardo waiting and watching, the loser of this team-mate battle is likely to be out of F1, so this could be an intriguing watch.

Team Lotus Renault

20           Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)

21           Jarno Trulli (ITA)

Team Lotus, as they are now known were the class of the new teams in 2010, and have closed the gap to the midfield in winter testing.  With two experience racers and a strong reserve in Karun Chandok, excuses will be less vain this season.  The move to Renault engines and gearboxes has caused some severe reliability bugs, which has consequently hurt their testing mileages.  However, don’t be surprised if they begin to give Toro Rosso and Force India some severe headaches this season.  Points are a necessity this time around and Heikki Kovalainen looks a class driver, after his mere at McLaren.  Kovalainen is expected to lead the team from the front again and will cause some giant-killing upsets, similar to Takuma Sato at Super Aguri in 2007.  Jarno Trulli’s speed over one lap is still as strong as ever, but his racecraft last year was frankly dismal.  2011 is surely Jarno’s last chance to fulfil anything decent onto his CV, otherwise he will end up like Olivier Panis; winning the Monaco Grand Prix once and did very little else with so much supposed talent.

HRT-Cosworth

22           Narain Karthikeyan (IND)

23           Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA)

Is this becoming the ‘Andrea Moda’ of 2011?  Remember that joke of the 1992 team that evaded taxes, cars broke down meters from rolling out of the garage.  Well, having your entire car failing to get through customs certainly qualifies for this title.  Narain Karthikeyan is only on board for Indian sponsorship whilst Vitantonio Liuzzi will bring experience of driving for backmarker teams.  With no pre-season testing AGAIN, it is once again going to be a battle for survival till the end of the season for HRT.

Marussia Virgin-Cosworth

24           Timo Glock (GER)

25           Jerome D’Ambrosio (BEL)

They were F1’s joke team of 2010, especially by not building a fuel tank big enough to finish the early season races.  However, the future looks bright, especially with backing from Russian sportscar brand Marussia and a confident new rookie in Jerome D’Ambrosio.  Timo Glock drove brilliantly in the second half of last season and will be there to pick up the pieces and grab the odd point, but they will struggle to be regular midfield runners.

Rules

As with nearly every F1 season, there have been some changes to the rules this season.  The 107% rule returns for qualifying for the first time since 2002 to prove that cars are quick enough to race, this will only apply to Q1 and if the qualifying session is wet, the rule will not be used.  Pirelli replaces Bridgestone as the tyre supplier and has been challenged by the FIA to produce a tyre that grains more and causes drivers to pit more often.  So far, this seems to have worked and it certainly spice up the racing.

     KERS returns after a season away and is once again optional for the teams to use it or not.  The most innovative concept for 2011 is an adjustable rear wing, which will aid more overtaking particularly on very long straights.  Gearboxes must now last five races instead of four in another case of cost cutting measures and the safety car rules have been tweaked once again with the overtake line abolished after the controversy surrounding it last year, meaning drivers again can only overtake when they’ve crossed the start/finish line at the restart.

For the 2011 season, I will be posting the following on the Formula One season

- A race report from all 19 events in the 2011 FIA Formula 1 World Championship

- NEW! F1 classic races (A brief lookback at six/seven classic events from the country that is about to stage a race that weekend)

- NEW! Replacing 'The Conclusions' will be a new personal blog.  'The Finishing Straight' by HappyDude88 will be online every Tuesday after the Grand Prix weekend, where I will be giving my own personal take on the weekend's events.

2010 British 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.  Onto Silverstone, the home of British motorsport and the rural Northamptonshire event certainly didn’t disappoint.  McLaren fought back, Red Bull continued to implode and Ferrari had a mere.  The new circuit certainly delivered, with action all the way.  So, this is a round-up of the key events from round ten of a sensational F1 season in 2010.

Red Bull – Fractions Continue To Arise

Once again, the favouritism inside the Red Bull Racing camp exploded onto the scene at Silverstone, and left them fighting a losing battle with many F1 experts and the worldwide media.  The row centred around two new front wings, which were brought to the event, only for one to break on Sebastian Vettel’s car in the closing exchanges of Saturday morning practice.  With one wing beyond repair, Christian Horner made a staggering and crazy decision; to remove the other new wing from Mark Webber’s car and hand it to Vettel, insisting it had to be done, because Vettel was ‘ahead’ in the world championship.  The result saw Vettel on pole, Webber fuming with second and the clear favouritism shown to Vettel again.  Like in Turkey, Mark must have felt left out by these questionable decisions from the Austrian team, so it would be interesting to see his response.

Mark Webber – The Fightback to Silverstone Glory

The Mark Webber response was conclusive, as he said after the race: “Cheers guys, fantastic result, not bad for a No.2 driver!”  He was aggressive and taking no prisoners off the startline, punishing Vettel for his poor getaway, then pushing him wide, as he had every right to do.  As Vettel collected a puncture and was lucky to beat the medical car back to the pits, Webber drove into the distance, with the commanding poise he showed in Barcelona and Monaco.  It was a perfect response from the Aussie, to his scary Valencia crash and a real slap in the face to the big bosses at Red Bull Racing.  His fightback must be praised, even if he didn’t help himself too much in the battle for supremacy with Vettel.  As much as Red Bull may not like it, he is a serious championship player and though the claim is that the air has been cleared with Christian Horner, divisions remain at large.  Despite signing a renewed deal for 2011, will Webber stay on, when a call from Renault may tempt him away.  The next few races in this riveting tale of beating the odds will tell us a lot about the present and the future.

McLaren – The New Package Fails To Deliver the Expected Pace

McLaren arrived at the British Grand Prix, with a new package that they believed, could finally take the fight to the dominant Red Bull package.  It included new exhausts and the ‘blown diffuser,’ which has worked masterfully on the Red Bull this season, and more recently, at Williams.  However, on Friday, the car looked imbalanced and difficult to control, with Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button both complaining of its lack of driveability.  On Saturday morning, the decision was taken to abandon the upgrade and revert back to the older settings.  It left the Woking team firmly on the backfoot for the remainder of the weekend, but it was undoubtedly the right decision, if you go on the indication of Friday’s lap times.  McLaren don’t normally get it wrong, but they will be hoping that come Hockenheim, the new package delivers from the outset, otherwise it could derail their championship tilt.

Brits At Home – Lewis & Jenson Save Our Sporting Summer!

After England’s dismal performance at the World Cup in South Africa, and Andy Murray’s failure to reach the Wimbledon final, the British sporting fanatics needed something to lift our spirits.  This meant there was added pressure and incentives on the world champion Jenson Button, and championship leader Lewis Hamilton.  McLaren’s new upgrade failure left them firmly playing catch-up, and qualifying didn’t yield a happy camp.  Hamilton dragged his car round to 4^th, with an impressive final lap time, but Button languished in 14^th, his worst grid slot since he claimed his 2009 championship in Brazil, and claiming the car to be completely ‘undriveable.’  Although Webber won on Sunday, Lewis and Jenson saved our summer and saved McLaren’s weekend, with gutsy and impressive performances to 2^nd and 4^th in the race.  If Red Bull continue their ‘let’s destroy each other’ tag, then we could be staring at the distinct possibility of a British world champion for the third successive year. 

Fernando Alonso vs. Robert Kubica – Little Sympathy for Ferrari

It was a mere of a weekend for Ferrari, who left Northamptonshire with no points, and more probably, totally out of both championships.  Despite their new radical package, which was introduced in Valencia, the team has only managed to claim four points in these two races.  Felipe Massa’s race was destroyed by a first lap puncture, following a stupid lunge on team-mate Fernando Alonso at Chapel, which was always going to end in contact.  No points in three races for the Brazilian, who is clearly still struggling to come to terms with this year’s car.  As for Alonso, an appalling start left him on the backfoot, and on Lap 19, an ambitious, but brave move around the outside of Robert Kubica into Club saw the Spaniard cut the corner to get past his Polish rival.  He wasn’t left much alternative, as Kubica did run him out of road, but Alonso carried on, convinced he had done nothing wrong, when he should have just let the Renault back through.  A lap later, Kubica retired with a suspension problem, and then seven laps later, Alonso was given a drive-through penalty for cutting the chicane and gaining an advantage.  Once again, the timing of the Safety Car ruined his chances and left him visibly angry in the cockpit.  I admit, with Kubica out of the running, that the penalty certainly did not fit the crime.  However, if Fernando had just blended out of the throttle and let him past instantly, he would have avoided the ramifications.  This was a very damaging weekend for Ferrari.

Nico Rosberg – Back On Form in Britain

Mercedes has had a real up-and-down season and another fine example of this, came at the weekend.  After such a dreary performance in Valencia a fortnight earlier, they were back on some form of solid pace at Silverstone.  Once more, Nico Rosberg was their leading light as he outperformed Michael Schumacher again, which is no longer a surprise.  Since his early season podiums in Sepang and Shanghai, Nico’s own form had dipped of late, but he was back on it in Britain.  Having lined up fifth, he took full advantage of Alonso’s penalty; Button’s poor qualifying and Vettel’s puncture to bag an unexpected rostrum.  His move around the outside of Jaime Alguesuari during the race at Brooklands was one of the best of the season.  In previous seasons, Nico may have backed out of such a risky move, but he seems stronger and more mentally up for it this time around.  His lunge was timed to perfection and though it cost him a bargeboard, it won him the 3^rd place result.  If Mercedes are to win a race this season, and that’s a big ‘if,’ it will come from Rosberg, not Schumacher.

Hispania Racing – Why Was Bruno Senna Dumped?

Last Thursday, Bruno Senna turned up in the paddock expecting to drive at the back of the field.  Inexplicably, he was dropped by Hispania Racing, and replaced with Japanese pay driver, Sakon Yamamoto.  Senna has been largely anonymous this season, and been surprisingly outpaced on a regular basis, by the admirable Karun Chandok.  However, he didn’t deserve the treatment he received last week.  He should be back for Germany next weekend, but this was an odd move.  If it is something to do with money, the Spanish team may not see out the season.  Sadly, I can’t quite point my finger on it, another case of the new teams embarrassing themselves in 2010. 

Adrian Sutil – Six of the Best

Last season, if saw a car with damage or in a spin, the high chances were, that would be Adrian Sutil.  Now in his fourth full season, Sutil has got his act together and has strung an impressive sequence of results, which now stands at six successive points finishing results.  Sutil is the main reason that Force India are still heading for a top six championship finish, and is always there to pick up the pieces.  As in Malaysia, when he defended successfully from Hamilton, he stoutly did the same with the much quicker Vettel at Silverstone, and his countryman needed to use excessive force at Village to get infront.  Needless to say Sutil was unimpressed, but he survived the skirmish and a bullish move on Michael Schumacher during the race was a particular highlight.  If his Saturday qualifying performances improved, Adrian will be a major figure in the higher points reaches.  Watch out for him at Spa and Monza, circuits which saw the Force India fly last year – as I think he has the talent and now, the consistency to cause a major surprise.

The New Circuit – Did It Produce What We Hoped?

The simple answer was yes.  We saw close racing throughout the new circuit, and as Rosberg showed on Alguesuari, and Vettel on several rivals in the second half of the race, overtaking was possible to have an attack on.  Although the flow of the circuit may have been broken up, with the demise of Bridge corner, Abbey is now a fully committed corner, that gives the driver maximum results if they give it the respect it requires.  The BRDC can be very happy with the job achieved here, and if Bernie Ecclestone is even singing their praises, then this bodes well for the future of the British Grand Prix.

Sauber – Light at the End of Tunnel at Last?

The impact that former Force India technical director James Key has, is making the slow improvement for Sauber, giving the Swiss team light at the end of the tunnel, after months of terrible reliability and a car that lack pace and more evidently, sponsorship.  Pedro de la Rosa has looked fairly pedestrian all season on his full-time comeback, but he was on fire at Silverstone, reaching Q3 for the first time this season and looking set for points, until an altercation with Sutil on the start-finish straight led to his rear wing breaking apart, throwing debris across the road and leaving the Spaniard with little option, but to park his car in the garage.  Kamur Kobayashi was a solid 12^th, only missing out on the shootout by 0.1s and in the race, produced another strong drive.  He stuck to the tail of Button like glue in the early stages, passed Michael Schumacher in the pits, and kept Rubens Barrichello honest all afternoon.  Sixth place was a worthy result, the team’s best of the season.  The question is, can Sauber keep this renewed pace up till the end of the season now?