7 Most Impressive Drivers So Far: Kimi Raikkonen

You knew he had to feature on the list at some point! Nobody had a better start to the season than Kimi Raikkonen when he proved strategy is key to winning a race when he stormed the Australian GP.

Nobody could have predicted that, least of all me, so he certainly had his name down for a title chase.Ten races in and he is the closest man to the greatest pretender of them all, Sebastian Vettel. Despite only winning one race so far, Kimi currently sits in second place after five P2 finishes.

However even for a die hard fan like me, Raikkonen's performances have been disappointing, particularly the Monaco to Silverstone run. 





Granted, Sergio Perez hitting him helped nobody's cause, but Kimi should not have been in that position in the first place. Qualifying pace has eluded Raikkonen all last season and has lingered back this year but in Monaco he should have been on the ball more.

Canada was probably one of the worst Kimi performances I have seen. Getting lapped by the race leaders was heart breaking to watch, it looked as though he just didn't want to be there. Silverstone was a better race, he probably didn't want to push so hard on the tyres given the situation.

Raikkonen should definitely have won a few of the races where he came second. China, Bahrain, Germany are all GP's he should have won. Passing up way too many chances to pass, and getting stuck behind Mercedes cars especially are reasons why Kimi isn't sitting top.

So you might be wondering "why Kimi is even on this list", "why are you bashing your favourite driver?"

He's on this list because of his determination and attitude to improve.Despite only winning a 1/4 of the GP's that Vettel has this season, he's only 38 points adrift of the championship. That's simply incredible. Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg both sit below Raikkonen with multiple wins.

Raikkonen definitely holds the crown of consistency king, setting the most points finishes record shows that by far. He's doing the best with what he's got, and that's quite a bit considering the very small budget and back room staff issues Lotus currently have (losing James Allison).

The only reason of why I'm hard on Kimi is because I'm not one of these people totally mesmerised by their favourite. All eight of the Vettel fans world wide can't see that the car is doing all the work (IN MY OPINION) but I can see that Raikkonen has flaws. But I can also see him working on them, which makes for a complete racing legend.

Kimi will go down in history as one of the greats, and you read it here first, Kimi Raikkonen will be 2013 Driver's World Champion.

7 Most Impressive Drivers So Far: Nico Rosberg

As if squaring up against Michael Schumacher wasn't enough and then beating him, Nico Rosberg now had a younger threat to compete against at Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton was coming.

I had originally considered the hype around Mercedes in 2013 to be a damp squib and predicted it would all implode in their face, but I have never been more wrong! This year's car has amazing one lap pace which can be seen by seven pole positions. This has all came at the price of high tyre degradation and earlier on in the season resulted in both drivers losing key points positions.

So when Nico Rosberg bagged his third successive pole position in the 6th round of the season in Monaco, most were expecting him to hold up the rest of the grid and force someone to take decisive overtaking measures. The truth could not have been further as Rosberg stormed to a massive win, where even Sebastian Vettel gave up on chasing him down.

Rosberg may not have scored as many points as Hamilton so far this season, but whenever all the media attention was on Hamilton, whenever all the talk was about Lewis, Nico Rosberg had continued to put in great race performances. At the end of the day, Nico Rosberg won the first race for this new Mercedes team last season, and he has won two more this season, while Lewis has only won the latest Grand Prix.

One of the key reasons I've put Nico on this (sort of) list of impressive drivers is that his performances are near enough on par with Hamilton's despite the varying levels of support within the Mercedes team. I'm not saying there's any bias but look at it this way; when Nico Rosberg qualified on pole three times in a row and won two Grand Prix's, Niki Lauda was nowhere to be seen or heard from. Whenever Lewis Hamilton won in Hungary, Lauda couldn't praise him quick enough. It's obviously not a huge factor yet, but it would be nice for him to acknowledge the German.

While there has been a lot of renovating been done on the Mercedes team, Nico Rosberg along with Ross Brawn have been constant factors and much like his father, he's destined to lift that driver's trophy eventually.

Preview: German Grand Prix 2013

Is there a grander and more gruesome track in Europe other than the Nurburgring? No... And therefore, it's the most difficult track in the world. And the Formula 1 drivers are only allowed to do the easy part of the track because no one would let real racing drivers (and Sebastian Vettel) loose on the Nordschleife!

I'm not even gutted that we don't have this circuit every year because the Hockenheimring is just as fantastic, but there is a sense of magic around this particular track.

Pirelli will not only be bringing the Medium and Soft compounds this weekend, they are also bringing restructured kevlar rear tyres after incredible failures at last week's British Grand Prix. At some point, Paul Hembery is going to have to admit that when driver safety comes into question, he's actually going to research how to build a half decent tyre.



Despite being a technically demanding 16 turn track, both tyre and brake wear is low. Downforce is often at it's highest, but the new tyres seem to be coping okay.

I am very well aware brand new tyres are going to disadvantage Lotus and play straight into Red Bull's hands, but I don't want something like Massa's 09 injury occurring to any driver. I defy any man or woman to think differently.

Not only are we back in Germany, I also got treated to the sight of Michael Schumacher this weekend! I miss him lots but his old Mercedes team are doing quite well in terms of getting their tyre management during the race under control. Lewis Hamilton's incident was in the fate of God, no one was going to stop him at Silverstone. If he isn't a good shout for pole, he's a race winning contender.

One way of fixing the tyre issue.

As is his team mate, Nico Rosberg. I don't want to jump on any bandwagons, but he is fairly close to becoming full circle. If he could just involve himself in a championship fight, we may see a real hero. Interesting fact, he wants to complete his 'home hat trick.' This is the three Grand Prix's where he has some sort of base. Monaco is where he grew up and lives, Silverstone is a few miles from Mercedes's base so he wants to win the German Grand Prix as he himself is a Native (minus the whole not living there thing).

Vettel can be considered favourite for most races, but never Germany. He normally flops at his home Grand Prix or in last year's case, gets himself demoted following illegal manoeuvre's. But just like in Canada, ducks can be broken. You would be foolish to count him out. 

Just like compatriot Adrian Sutil, I've never been too fond of the man and I'm still not, but the racing driver surely has given me some food for thought. In the wake be being shown up by Force India team mate Paul di Resta, Sutil has stepped up and has produced some wonderful results. I wouldn't count out di Resta too soon though, I think a podium is looming.

Fernando Alonso's main objective this weekend will be too finish ahead of Vettel. Even though it is not my favourite way of fighting a championship, it's the best way to play Vettel at his own game. With Kimi Raikkonen still trying to find some competitive race pace, and the fact Germany doesn't sit well for Kimi, this is Alonso's chance to pull away and gain at the same time.

It's a race that will separate the men from the boy's, let's just pray fate stays the hell away and let the professionals do what they do best: RACE.

The Story So Far... Part Two

Last time out, I covered the progress of the majority of the rookie drivers in the Marussia and Caterham teams, along with Valtteri Bottas and his experienced team mate Pastor Maldonado in the Williams.

The midfield last season was extremely tight with Sauber making an immense leap forward in terms of pace and podium finishes. Force India showed us how far they have come and Toro Rosso put their young talent on display with just the one driver breaking through. All these teams (excluding Toro Rosso) have swapped about drivers but no driver change was as big when it was announced Lewis Hamilton would take over from Michael Schumacher who was forced into retirement by the move. 

Toro Rosso
The Red Bull feeder team has always been known for hiring rookies to promote to the bigger team, but in recent years they have failed to find any talent worth of replacing Mark Webber.

Last year, Daniel Ricciardo was heavily promoted as the more talented driver but he was consistently beaten by Jean-Eric Vergne's driving ability. This year the team has made a much improved leap forward, the same can be said for both drivers.

Eventually, Toro Rosso will ditch these two boys, I reckon they won't have bother finding work in Formula 1.

Daniel Ricciardo
His season didn't get off to the best start with the first two races, but his qualifying magic was duly present in China this year when he qualified 7th and finished 7th. Usually when a team achieves that kind of result on Saturday, it turns out to be a nightmare on Sunday, so he done a great job holding it all up.

With more people noticing JEV's talents, the pressure has been lifted off Daniel, which can only be a good thing.

He needs to focus on trying to beat his team mate. When a seat eventually becomes vacant at Red Bull, this is how he will be judged, and at the minute, the ball is in JEV's court.

Jean-Eric Vergne
I have always thought JEV (great nickname) has been a great driver. Considering he's only 3 points off last season's total already speaks for itself.

His qualifying performances have improved quite dramatically, and his scoring points more consistently is achievable because of a great car.

He is the ideal candidate to succeed Mark Webber because he has no ego and a great fan base. Should he keep this up, championship opportunities will be plentiful.

Force India
Me and this team did not get off to the best start this year. The fact they waited until the last minute to announce their second driver was extremely disrespectful.

When Adrian Sutil was unveiled, an opportunity had been missed in the form of Jules Biachi. His raw pace should have been shown in this car, not a lacklustre Marussia.

Monaco was a high point for the team with both drivers proving overtaking is possible.

Adrian Sutil
Instead of a world championship, Sutil has something more unique to his name, an ASBO. I'm not a fan of Sutil or second chances. The fact he got one annoys me when there were better options.

It's hard to argue though that this driver decision didn't work. So far he has proved he can still compete with the best that the midfield has to offer, and staying out of the spotlight has not hurt his reputation.

It's hard to say what's in store for him. The fact he has only ever driven for Force India (and their two previous outfit names) has to say something about what other teams think of him. His aim for the season should be to stay out of Paul's way.

Paul di Resta
2013 was a great start for the Scot, but then someone in his team said "let's f--k everything up." Seriously though the amount of mistakes made by his garage is ridiculous.

Then people criticise Paul for hitting out at them?! He has every right to be outraged. di Resta is going places in the world, but he is being let done by his own team. Engineers being paid thousands and then not being able to count and do their job?!

Despite all this, Paul has scored points in every round bar Malaysia. The battle is equal between him and Sutil so far, but as the season progresses so will Paul. In addition, the team will need to clean up their act pronto.

Sauber
The Swiss team undoubtedly managed to steal raw talent from Force India by recruiting Nico Hulkenberg. Granted the start to their season got off to an awful start for many reasons, Nico managed to fight back before falling into another slump.

I predicted this before the start of the season. Sauber tend to have issues when carrying over momentum from one season to another. After reaching podium heights last year, they have only managed to score 5 points so far. 

The biggest mistake was not letting go of Sergio Perez, but rather Kamui Kobayashi. The Japanese driver had huge talent but suffered at the hands of poor set up. They miss him greatly and instead, they hired what can only be described as a disaster.

Esteban Gutierrez 
The aforementioned disaster comes in the form of this furry (look at his eyebrows) little Mexican.

Like Perez before him, Sauber brought him in as the Mexican government funds the young driver, making him an extreme pay driver.

Let me assure you, NOTHING has payed off. He has proven to be an absolute danger to everyone around him. If he's not crashing into barriers he's crashing into title contenders such as Kimi Raikkonen.


He seems to have no awareness and once he's in the car, he acts like a newborn puppy, almost scared of his surroundings. Not to mention he's not even come close to scoring any points.

My hope is that he will be replaced soon. I can think of a number of better candidates, particularly Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen. His only purpose is bound to be his cash flow. Theey're probably keeping him around in order to gain enough money for next year, whenever Krazy Kob comes back (hopefully).

Nico Hulkenberg
The words; 'future world champion' come to mind, although that's based on his previous performances, this year it has not been great, that can be put down to the team though but not all the bucks can be passed.

He has been incredibly quiet this year, mostly scrapping from the back, very little opportunity to showcase true talent. He slumped after a double points finished but looked to be on the mend before he struck out in Canada. 

The move from Force India has not prospered for him at all and I feel bad for him. The only thing keeping Nico in the game is his dreadful team mate.

Just wait for Brazil though whenever Sebastian Vettel is trying to keep up with him around Interlagos!

Mercedes
The decision not to retain Michael Schumacher last year was painful. Love him or hate him, not hearing the name is absolutely crap.

Michael's departure was only the beginning of a board revolution. Followed out the door shortly by Norbert Haug, big names like Toto Wolff, Niki Lauda and reportedly, Paddy Lowe all joined to create an all star package of money, personality and brains. Team principle Ross Brawn has supposedly been cut out of the picture. His departure is still not for certain.

Despite the heavy hitters added to the background, the biggest talent on the grid joined (Fernando Alonso is all tied up at Ferrari) in the form of Lewis Hamilton.

I'm not one bit ashamed to admit I said that Mercedes were going to buckle under the weight of their own ambition this year and to be fair, the first two races they did.

Then the string of pole positions came. I was proven wrong, they had one lap speed. But race pace? Dreadful. 

Nobody could have predicted that they would be involved in the biggest scandal so far this year, but I'll have more on tyre gate soon.

Lewis Hamilton
The move away from McLaren must have hurt Lewis at a personal level. But there is no doubt it was a lucky one. He moved from disaster into an environment where he can be Lewis.

He's still looking for this first Mercedes win, but his pole positions were quite frequent. It's just the cars awful ability to look after the tyres. The situation really came home in Barcelona when he snapped back saying [to his engineer] "I can't go any slower."

Considering the majority of the rest of the season is filled with permanent race tracks (harder on tyre wear) he will struggle to find that first win. Rest assure, it will happen.

The best thing about Lewis this season is his new dog, Roscoe. SO ADORABLE (I'm a dog lover).

Nico Rosberg
I am very, very glad Nico got the first win for the all new Mercedes this year. There was too much hype and attention over Lewis. Autosport at a four page article nearly every week about him and it got sickening.

Nico managed to achieve three consecutive pole positions and the (supposed) biggest win of the year at Monaco, thirty years after his father. 

The season has been great to him so far. His tyre management is significantly better than Lewis's, although a lot off the field.

Backing both drivers never worked for Mercedes in the past, but it's not possible to back Nico over Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, that was never going to happen. Solace should be found in what he has achieved so far. Moving to another team around Mercedes where he is the number one focus would definitely benefit his career.

Remember, McLaren will be joining forces with Honda again and even though I am sceptical, it could bring back wonderful feelings to the team. I don't think they will want to keep Jenson Button or Perez around any longer. 

Nico Rosberg could easily find his Nirvana at McLaren.

Rosberg Wins The Crown Jewel Of F1

Personally, the result of this race was a disaster, and I can't help feel at this early point that at the end of 2013, certain drivers will be kicking themselves after Monaco. Lots of negative things to say but first, a big congratulations to Nico Rosberg!

The Mercedes driver led from the very first lap to the chequered flag, not necessarily putting to bed the tyre issue. While Monaco is without doubt the most technical track on the calendar, it's technical for drivers skills not the balance of the car. It never has been a true test of the car.

Nevertheless, Rosberg had a great drive and I always would have liked him to get the first win over [team mate] Lewis Hamilton during their time at Mercedes. The German looked in control the whole race, almost like he was never pressured from behind. Fluent pit stops and no arguments, a lot of fortune from two safety car periods.

Hamilton did of course get screwed over by the first safety car period. A huge crash from Felipe Massa was deemed enough to launch the Mercedes SLS, but I personally thought this was unnecessary. He wasn't in a dangerous enough place and all the debris was in the run off area (only a little at the impact point further up). Yellow flags would have sufficed. It definitely gifted F1 fake Sebastian Vettel 2nd place. The flukiest driver on the planet was once again given points on a Silver platter.

Great drivers from both the Force India guys. Adrian Sutil proved that overtaking at Monaco is possible if you focus, and Paul di Resta developed an amazing attack, overtaking on the outside of turn 1. He was a fantastic spectacle to watch, and my driver of the day.

Other drivers from Jean-Eric Vergne and Max Chilton really gives me faith for the future of the sport. Maybe now we can stop looking for rookie drivers and get more experience on the grid for next season.

Unfortunately that's all the nice I can say about the race. I don't like Monaco anyways and I knew it would not be a great day for my favourite driver, Kimi Raikkonen so I was hoping he could do some form of damage limitation. 

But oh-no, he proved once again he will not overtake unless he absolutely can. While this may sound a great thing to do, and ultimately secured him 3rd last year,  it's not good enough for a title finish. Here's why. Say over the course of two or three races, Kimi builds like an eight point lead over Vettel by just finishing once place above him each time. What happens after that fourth race when Vettel flukes the win and Kimi gets stuck behind a slower car? He has all that work to do again.

That happened at Monaco. First off I thought (before the safety car) Lotus would have gone for a 1-stop less strategy from everybody else, but they opted against it. Then after the red flag from a horrific crash from Pastor Maldonado, he stayed on soft tyres when everyone else switched to super softs. This may have seemed the bright thing to do with thirty laps remaining, but as it turned out degradation never really kicked in, and the super softs were the smarter option.

None of this mattered of course because thanks to a feisty Mexican (more on him soon) Raikkonen suffered a puncture. But Kimi has no one to blame but himself. He should never have been in that position in the first place. He spent far too much time behind Mark Webber at the start. The Red Bull driver was very slow and Raikkonen failed to capitalise. Then the same sob story happened when he got stuck behind Hamilton AGAIN. I dunno what it is when he's stuck behind the Mercedes cars!

Raikkonen wasn't all there this weekend, it's almost like he wasn't trying. This conservative nature has to stop, or he's lost the championship. Although overtaking cause team mate Romain Grosjean his place in the race (and the next following a 10 place grid penalty for hitting Daniel Ricciardo) Kimi needs to take the risks soon.

McLaren also had a very disappointing day, and it's official: I am no longer a Jenson Button fan. I have never seen a more whiner driver in the history of the sport. He cries every race because Sergio Perez is quicker than him, and then he tries to get Perez a penalty! Unbelievable.

McLaren also issued team orders, but there is a very good chance this was FIA issued after Perez cut the chicane after the tunnel to avoid contact with Button. He soon got it back with a phenomenal over take, showing he had more skill than Button on the day.

However Perez was well out of order for hitting Raikkonen. He had no right to try that overtake, Kimi didn't leave him room because he wasn't supposed to heading into that turn! Perez had to retire and then blamed it all on Kimi! Although as I said, Kimi should not have been in that position in the first place, Perez should have known better. Where's his penalty?

The Ferrari's drove the nail into my coffin topping off a bad day for me. Massa endured a heavy shunt but I am glad he's okay. Alonso just didn't have any pace and was overtaken by nearly every driver on the track.

I had a day off work, so this is the only race I got to watch live. Unfortunately I had to watch it on Sky. I dunno where Sky hire their commentators but I'm glad they give mentally impaired people jobs. David Croft got over excited and then realised it was just a replay. To quote Montana: "what a fucking idiot."

I'm not happy and I'm feeling quite pessimistic about Canada which is disappointing considering I thought it would be the best race of the season. I don't know what to expect now. If my favourite drivers who I consider to be the most talented are letting the side down race after race, then it's going to be an easy season for Vettel.

And yes, I would let Raikkonen punch Perez in the face. Better yet I'll pay for all legal fees.

FINAL RESULT (BBC):

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes 2:17:52.056

2. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull +00:03.888

3. Mark Webber - Red Bull +00:06.314

4. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes +00:13.894

5. Adrian Sutil - Force India +00:21.477

6. Jenson Button - McLaren +00:23.103

7. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari +00:26.734

8. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso +00:27.223

9. Paul di Resta - Force India +00:27.608

10. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus +00:36.582

11. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber +00:42.572

12. Valtteri Bottas - Williams +00:42.691

13. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber +00:43.212

14. Max Chilton - Marussia +00:49.885

15. Giedo van der Garde - Caterham +01:02.590

16. Sergio Perez - McLaren retired, 72 laps

17. Romain Grosjean - Lotus retired, 63 laps

18. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso retired, 61 laps

19. Jules Bianchi - Marussia retired, 58 laps

20. Pastor Maldonado - Williams retired, 44 laps

21. Felipe Massa - Ferrari retired, 28 laps

22. Charles Pic - Caterham retired, 7 laps

No Monaco Qualifying

Sorry guys, I missed it today and won't see the highlights!  I think it's horrible that it was a Mercedes lock out, that gives no hope for overtaking,  Kimi just meeds to make sure he finishes above Vettel. But because Seb is the flukiest driver in the history of the universe, it's all against Kimi.

The only hope rests with Mark Webber... and that says it all!

Preview: 2013 Monaco Grand Prix

The F1 circus sets up base at arguably, its true home in Monte Carlo. The glam and glitz will be matched by the brightest stars (and Sebastian Vettel) on the Formula 1 grid. The paddock will have to endure a very tense atmosphere considering the recent decision over Pirelli tyres, and the inconsistent form of Mercedes qualifying-to-race performance. If a Silver Arrow snatches up P1 or worst case scenario, both get P1/2 then the whole grid will have to suffer an immense amount of build up. There will be carnage. 

Everyone is fully aware of the classic Nelson Piquet quote, Daniel Ricciardo recently likened the GP to racing around a supermarket. The 3.3 km street layout lasts for 78 laps of pure concentration. This is where racing drivers make their money, and I don't mean when Kimi Raikkonen turns up in a diamond encrusted helmet, and then proceeds to lose it. I mean the absolute attention to detail that's required. You drop that for one moment, and hello DNF.

Pirelli bring their supersoft and soft compounds back to the legendary, and they better hope their predicted two stop actually remains a two stop, or else Red Bull will have something more to cry about. Teams like Lotus and Force India who have mastered the tyres will be aiming for the magic one stop that will score them big points.

After a poor start, reserved overtaking and less than average pit stops, Kimi Raikkonen was only beaten by Fernando Alonso on a far superior race strategy. Kimi will need to stop dicking around behind Mercedes like he did in Barcelona. His Monaco history is mixed to say the least, but there's a very good chance his first DNF since his return is about to strike.

Even though their race pace is piss poor, this is the best opportunity for Nico Rosberg or Lewis Hamilton to bag that all important first win. They'll be joined by the agitated Red Bull boys whose technical chief Adrian Newey said the Pirelli tyres are preventing them from unlocking the full potential of their car. 

Here's an idea Adrian, how about you make a car that complies with the rules instead of cheating.

It's difficult to predict anything this season, but if Michael Schumacher was able to achieve pole position last year, it's hard to think that anyone bar Hamilton or Rosberg will secure it again. However, Mark Webber always starts his season at Monaco, so I'm predicting him to get pole and to do well in the race, maybe third.

For the win however I have to believe Fernando Alonso has it in him to dodge the Monaco madness. I don't think Kimi has the hard head to go for it and I cannot see the Mercedes guys staying on the cliff. That only leaves Fernando and Sebastian, and because it's a game of tyres I'm going to back the Ferrari.

NEW HOME

I've been using blogger since November when I started this blog and I have to say it has been very good to me; easy posts, great stats and brilliant set up. With its close link to Google+ I was able to grow my audience to a point where I have thoroughly enjoyed reaching the corners of the F1 universe.

But I feel there is a lot more I can do, and a lot more people to reach, and I think blogger is holding me back.

That's why my aim for summer is to leave blogger and join wordpress. I write for Let's Talk F1 which uses wordpress and it's no coincidence that nearly EVERY F1 blog uses the site, and although it's great to be different, I feel there is a reason for the sheer number of people using the popular blog site.

I'll be completely rebranding everything, including a new name and new layout. The best thing about the move; the content will remain the same. Every race preview, review and every thought no matter how big or small that pops into my head will get published for my amusement and probably your disgust.

I'll making partnerships, brand new features and hopefully putting together a team to transfer my blog into a hot new F1 website.

I'll keep everyone updated as soon as new developments occur. Until then keep it here on My Formula 1.

Alonso Wins Emphatic Home Grand Prix

After a very disappointing qualifying session yesterday, a win was looking less likely... To the non believers! Fernando Alonso drove a master class and he was only one half of a Ferrari fairy tale as Felipe Massa also aided his penalty disaster by a podium finish. It would have been a Ferrari 1-2 had it not have been for an icy intervention. Kimi Raikkonen drove a tyre controlled race to bring his Lotus 2nd, however from the words of a very critical super fan, he could have got the win.



C'mon Kimi!

Raikkonen started 4th behind the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel and the two Mercedes cars. As previous races have shown us, the race pace of the silver arrows was disastrous from lap 1 to lap 66, and a blistering start from both Vettel and Alonso did not help Kimi as he fell back behind the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.

What I would love to know is; why can everyone else but Kimi fly by either of the Mercedes cars? It happened countless times last year when Kimi got stuck behind Michael Schumacher and today was no different. Raikkonen struggled for 7 laps behind Hamilton and by the time he eventually got around him, the rest of the pack had moved on. Rosberg was leading up until he pitted and that's when his car fell off the pace. 

As standard, Alonso and Vettel both sail right by him but oh no, Kimi has to go and dick about behind him again. I understand his careful and planned overtaking style, no one respects it like me. But at the same time you have got to show the hunger that (for example) Alonso showed when he got by Rosberg. It might get you the name of Mr. Consistent, but it may cost you the name of Mr. 2013 World Champion.

That being said, Raikkonen did get better as the race went on. When battling with Vettel, Kimi's driving style is so much more efficient that the German's. Vettel loves the wide line, but by the time he's snapped back, Kimi has gained. Unfortunately when it comes to 'close but no cigar,' Kimi drops way back to line himself up all over again. He got by on lap 32 Vettel on the end of the 2nd DRS zone, but Vettel squeezed him off to take position back. 

Come lap 33, Kimi makes a sensational move past Vettel at the end of turn one, Essentially, he recovered his race at this point. Whenever he leads, there's always a chance he'll win. But it was not meant to be. Less time behind the Mercedes cars please Kimi. It's costing you valuable points.

Fantastic Ferrari.

No matter what anybody done, no one was for stopping Fernando Alonso. At the half way point, the Ferrari's were just controlling their own race. At lap 38, Alonso was cutting into Kimi's lead with a vengeance, but they both still had a stop remaining. Kimi pitted first leaving him with 20 laps on the hard compound tyre. 

The focal point was coming out in front of Vettel. That was key to a strong finish. 3 laps later Alonso decided to come in but he was split up by Alonso's team mate Massa. Whenever Massa came in for his last stop, he slotted back in behind Kimi for 3rd, a very respectable finish after a difficult starting position. Goes to show you that the Massa of old his nearly back, once he gets that critical win again, we'll see his true master-class.

Getting two drivers on the podium helped Ferrari overhaul Lotus in the constructors table, although this was aided by Romain Grosjean suffering a freak suspension failure.

At what point are Mercedes going to realise that winning qualifying is not good enough? Is it when you're being overtaken by a Williams? Or when the world champion in your team has to take 'driving lessons' from his less experienced counter part? The no race pace issue needs sorted IMMEDIATELY because they are turning into a real joke on race day.

What happens in Monaco whenever they get pole but suddenly feel the force of the pack behind them? They'll cause accidents. Hamilton even got overtaken by Jenson Button, ex McLaren team mate. That was an hilarious moment, although Button was lucky not to be out raced by his current team mate Sergio Perez who looked a lot tidier this weekend.

A big shout out to Esteban Gutierrez! I've been very hard on him and I will continue to be if he makes more poor choices, but today he drove a very clean race, steady improvements will help him gain valuable experience.

I do have to mention my dissatisfaction with BBC's Ben Edwards. Last year he commentated like his eyes were painted on, and he always got the Lotus's mixed up, even though their helmets were completely different. When Grosjean came in to retire he started screaming "Raikkonen's retired!" and I was eating a yoghurt at the time, which then proceeded to go all over the floor. Actually, as I write this it's still there. It's all hardened... Eww...

It was a great spectacle, even Vettel didn't annoy me today. In terms of the drivers championship (and I am having another go at Kimi here), it's all well and good getting more points than Vettel on 1 race weekend. But what happens when he flukes the next 3 and this pattern continues? If you're not taking chunks out of his lead, then what the f**k is the point? We've learnt over the last two seasons that Vettel will literally hold back until his gift circuits in Asia. If you're not going to consolidate that loss now then you're leaving yourself with a marathon to run come the end of the season.

Glad to see Alonso back on top with Felipe improving all the time. Epic drive from Kimi Raikkonen but I still think he lost the race on lap 7. On a plus note, on the Castrol Predictor I gained a total of 100 points! What Up!!!!

FINAL RESULT (BBC):

1. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1hr 39mins 16.596secs

2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus +00:09.338

3. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 00:26.049

4. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 00:38.273

5. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 00:47.963

6. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes 01:08.020

7. Paul di Resta (GB) Force India 01:08.988

8. Jenson Button (GB) McLaren 01:19.506

9. Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren 01:21.738

10. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Toro Rosso 1 lap

11. Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber 1 lap

12. Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes 1 lap

13. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1 lap

14. Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 1 lap

15. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber 1 lap

16. Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1 lap

17. Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham 1 lap

18. Jules Bianchi (Fra) Marussia 2 laps

19. Max Chilton (GB) Marussia 2 laps

ret. Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Toro Rosso 14

ret. Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham

ret. Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus

2013 Spanish Grand Prix - Qualifying

After another mammoth break from Formula 1, the circus hits the Circuit de Catalunya, one of my favourite tracks on the grid. 

A lot of teams brought big updates for this weekend. Red Bull have revised the way they manage the tyres after their temper tantrum with Pirelli failed to get compounds changed to work in their favour. You're no Ferrari guys! McLaren stated after Australia where the dismal pace of the car shocked us all that they were expecting their first big upgrades of the season in Spain. The only thing that can pick them out from the shuck is a miracle. Further down the grid, Caterham revealed that this is to be the first round where they run an all 2013 spec car. Is is enough to seize back 'best of the rest' from Marussia?

Watching live BBC coverage today made me realise that they do an awful lot of features with drivers from the back of the grid, particularly with Max Chilton. This doesn't really look good when all you can get is a rookie driver from a struggling team every round. I suppose though an F1 driver is an F1 driver.

That being said, they managed to secure a chance interview with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. When asked about the calendar next year he replied "I haven't got one together yet but there will be 20 races." Bernie confirmed that the developing Sochi Circuit in Russia will definitely feature next year, but then asked in place of what he replied with a very serious manner: "Silverstone." The shock in both Suzi Perry's eyes and Eddie Jordan's was evident. He refused to confirm which one but he mentioned Spa, one of the Germany's and the outright exclusion of Valencia. In the end, he admitted he was joking about Silverstone and mentioned that a decision on the New Jersey street circuit will not be made for "another few months."

I would also like to wish Pat Fry to get all the better very soon after being rushed to hospital with kidney stones.

Q1 - In modern F1 fashion, we expect the usual suspects will bow out straight away, what was also becoming a staple was a Williams would join them, followed by F1 danger man Esteban Gutierrez. This time last year, Pastor Maldonado stormed to pole, but this year he joined his Williams team mate Valtteri Bottas in slipping out of the action early. Maldonado's woes may get worse as he is under investigation for holding up Jenson Button.

It looked to me as an offence and I accept that, but Jenson Button does not get to decide when and who gets a penalty. All he should have said was "Pastor held me up, tell the stewards." Not; "that's a definite penalty." I am disliking Jenson more and more every race weekend, his attitude has gotten severely worse since Sergio Perez out paced him in Bahrain, and his bitchy whiny attitude is not helping the situation at McLaren.

OUT - BOT, MAL, VDG,  BIA,  CHI, PIC

Q2 - After Gutierrez held up Kimi Raikkonen in Q1, he would have needed to up his game to minimise the damage inflicted by his impending grid penalty. But once again the boy has let himself down by a poor showing. I reckon someone should find this boy a plane home because he's taking up a place that should be held by a competent driver. Not a lot of on screen action but one thing I did take away was the tyre degradation in terms of used tyres. Kimi only used the hard tyres in Q1, but Sebastian Vettel used a set for 1 lap (out lap, time lap, in lap) and then used that tyre for the first run in Q2. The drop in performance was huge compared to what it should be. Issue is, is that Red Bull's updates failing or Pirelli failing to make a decent tyre?

Huge disappointment for McLaren, baby Button as his updated car just flopped. His first time wasn't quicker than anybody else's, his second one only lifted him up two places. Perhaps the biggest blow was the fact that Perez looks as if he made some progress.

OUT - RIC, VER, SUT, BUT, HUL, GUT

Q3 - It looks as though the deciding factor for a good lap is sector 3, and the only team to be able to make the most out of it was Mercedes. I predicted before the session that Fernando Alonso would be quickest. Midway through Q2 I stated Rosberg could be a good shout. Then as soon as Q3 begun I said a Mercedes lockout looks on. 

Even though my initial prediction was wrong, my foresight came through and Mercedes secured positions 1 and 2 with Nico Rosberg on top. I can only hope they have fixed that issue of lack of race pace. They'll need it considering Kimi starts in P4 and Alonso starts in P5, the two best starts in Formula 1 at the minute.

What Mercedes will be glad of is that statistics are on their side. For the last 16 years, the winner has started on the front row. However, the massive scrap from Alonso and Raikkonen will be enough to shake the stats, it looks like it will be a classic race, but something tells me the top of the podium will be very icy tomorrow.

FINAL STANDINGS (AUTOSPORT):

Pos Driver                Team/Car              Time      Gap
 1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m20.718s
 2. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes              1m20.972s  + 0.254s
 3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m21.054s  + 0.336s
 4. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m21.177s  + 0.459s
 5. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m21.218s  + 0.500s
 6. Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m21.219s  + 0.501s
 7. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m21.308s  + 0.590s
 8. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m21.570s  + 0.852s
 9. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes      1m22.069s  + 1.351s
10. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m22.233s  + 1.515s
Q2 cut-off time: 1m22.019s                                       Gap **
11. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m22.127s  + 1.126s
12. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m22.166s  + 1.165s
13. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m22.346s  + 1.345s
14. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.166s  + 2.165s
15. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari        1m22.389s  + 1.388s
16. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari        1m22.793s  + 1.792s
Q1 cut-off time: 1m23.218s                                       Gap *
17. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault      1m23.260s  + 1.532s
18. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m23.318s  + 1.590s
19. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault      1m24.661s  + 2.933s
20. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth     1m24.713s  + 2.985s
21. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth     1m24.996s  + 3.268s
22. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault      1m25.070s  + 3.342s

Preview: 2013 Chinese Grand Prix

After the absolute farce created by Sebastian Vettel last time round, we need a good race to at least ease the pain of Twat-Gate and start to make it a distant memory. Child-like Vettel leads the drivers championship from Kimi Raikkonen, who will be one of many looking to forget Malaysia.

Part of the Formula 1 calendar since 2004, Herman Tilke produced another track where large run off areas fail to punish mistakes, but like the Sepang circuit, I like it. The long sweeping turns 1 and 2 into 3 are quite unique and have often produced some great memories off the line. The 5.5km circuit consists of 16 corners with a signature 1170m long straight which will host the DRS zone for this circuit. The second DRS zone (not displayed) will be on the pit straight according to ESPN.

Pirelli are bringing their medium and soft compound tyres, however going by the first two races, I think rain will play its part at some point during the weekend. I also doubt we won't see a dry race until Bahrain. Downforce, tyre wear and brake demand are low-medium meaning all out speed may not be enough, strategy will play an even huger part this weekend. Maybe a 3 stop would be the most beneficial?

Last year was the first surprise of the season when Nico Rosberg managed to grab pole position and his first win. The result shocked many, but Mercedes will be looking for the same feat to be achieved this time around. That's why I'm predicting that Lewis Hamilton will get his first win in a Mercedes factory car. I would LOVE to see Nico getting it over him, but this is his chance.

I don't like swearing in my blogs, but Sebastian Vettel really is a dick.

He'll face some strong opposition from rival drivers looking for improvements. Fernando Alonso needs to fight harder than ever at the start of a season unless he wants a mountain to climb later. No more silly decisions by the team please guys. He's not the only one. As a die-hard Kimi fan, Malaysia was the worst I've seen him in a Lotus car. A massive fall from grace will not be aided by the fact that he finished pointless here last season (albeit that was the only time). On the flip side, Romain Grosjean had a fantastic previous round, and I'm really hoping this is a sign of things to come. His patience will lead to that first win!

Felipe Massa has been on some terrific form of late, and I am quickly becoming a Massa fan, so long may it continue because it could open up opportunities for him at Ferrari. The same can't be said for his McLaren rivals. Jenson Button and Sergio Perez really have been caught out in the right place in the wrong time. McLaren may talk a big recovery game, but the only thing I can say is, pack it in and focus on next year guys.

For qualifying I expect the Mercedes cars to be up there, but only a fool would still bet against Adrian Newey's puppet getting pole. My favourite combination is a wet qualifying session followed by a dry race, but considering the Bull's have quick wet pace now, I'm not sure that's what I want. Hopefully the rain will stay away, but prepare for the worst.

In terms of review coverage, I hope to bring you an immediate qualifying report considering it's live on BBC (THANK CHRIST) but as for the race I am working, so expect it very late on, even on Monday.

As usual though you can keep up to date with everything F1 by checking out Let's Talk F1. 

Kimi Triumphs Down Under

Kimi Raikkonen stormed to his 20th career win and the 1st of the 2013 season after a moderately quiet Australian Grand Prix.

The story once again revolved around tyre management and race strategy as Raikkonen completed a two-stop race while managing the wear on his Pirelli's very accurately. Consistency was the key to his form last year, and it looks as though he's immediately found his form. Last year he scored some very reasonable points after starting in 17th following a qualifying blunder, this year he capitalised on P7 after a signature Kimi start allowed him to slot into 4th after a couple of turns. 

Pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel reminded us of how dangerous Newey's RB9 can be be setting off quite far early on, but a surprise chaser emerged from the pack, Felipe Massa managed to turn down a 2s lead to actually leading the Grand Prix at a point. He was followed by Ferrari team mate Fernando Alonso the whole way who eventually managed 2nd behind Kimi and in front of Vettel in 3rd.

Vettel ultimately couldn't keep up with the pace of Raikkonen and Alonso, but his downfall came from the biggest surprise for another driver. Returning Force India driver and resident thug Adrian Sutil managed to hold the 3-time world champion up for a number of laps before he had to make his stop. Force India's form from last season has evidently continued as he was race leader for a while, a similar incident happened in Brazil with Nico Hulkenberg, who now driving for Sauber didn't get to start the race due to a fuel pump failure.  

As I predicted earlier, Mercedes had a disappointing day, despite Lewis Hamilton's 5th place. Although 10 points is a hell of a good haul, he dropped from P3 on the grid, and team mate Nico Rosberg had to retire from the race. I did say Mercedes have been highly over hyped already this season, and it doesn't look as if it'll improve soon. The greatest low from the weekend falls to McLaren who only managed to collect 2 points following Jenson Buttons 9th place finish. 

Their [McLaren] mishap in building an entirely new car has backfired massively on them. Sergio Perez had attempted to complete his feat of recovering a poor qualifying position into a podium, but no such luck today as Checo made a very shaky start to his McLaren debut. His lack of pace was so astonishing that eventually he just let people overtake him, he obviously has no confidence in the car. The feeling is reciprocated with his team mate. Button had to come in on lap 4 to change his already badly worn tyres. The Woking team needs to get it together right now if they are to recover anything, or they will finish behind Lotus and maybe Mercedes.

Albert Park is not well known for it's overtakes and there was no change in story today, but Raikkonen completed an outside overtake on Hamilton in the opening laps that was just sublime. 

Unlike his result in Abu Dhabi last year, Kimi did not just inherit the race, he worked hard for it, yet he described the win as "easy." He is showing massive confidence already and 67% of season opening winners go on to win the championship. The odds are in his favour and my money is fully on Raikkonen at this point. However, it will not be an easy ride.



Final Standings (©Autosport)

 1.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1h30m03.225s
 2.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari                  + 12.451s
 3.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault         + 22.346s
 4.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari                  + 33.577s
 5.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes                 + 45.561s
 6.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault         + 46.800s
 7.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes   + 1m05.068s
 8.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes   + 1m08.449s
 9.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes       + 1m21.630s
10.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault          + 1m22.759s
11.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes       + 1m23.367s
12.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari     + 1m23.857s
13.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari             + 1 lap
14.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault           + 1 lap
15.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth          + 1 lap
16.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault         +  2 laps
17.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth        +  2 laps
18.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault         +  2 laps

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1m29.274s

Not classified/retirements:

Driver            Team                On lap
Daniel Ricciardo  Toro Rosso-Ferrari  40
Nico Rosberg      Mercedes            26
Pastor Maldonado  Williams-Renault    25
Nico Hulkenberg   Sauber-Ferrari      1

World Championship standings, round 1:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Raikkonen      25        1.  Ferrari                    30
 2.  Alonso         18        2.  Lotus-Renault              26
 3.  Vettel         15        3.  Red Bull-Renault           23
 4.  Massa          12        4.  Mercedes                   10
 5.  Hamilton       10        5.  Force India-Mercedes       10
 6.  Webber          8        6.  McLaren-Mercedes            2
 7.  Sutil           6       
 8.  Di Resta        4       
 9.  Button          2       
10.  Grosjean        1