Canadian Grand Prix

Wow!

What a race! Qualifying started it all off when for the first time this season, a Red Bull car was not on pole position. Instead the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton took the front spot off Mark Webber by two tenths of a second. On row two was Sebastian Vettel and the resurgent Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. Behind them was Hamilton teammate Jenson Button and Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi. Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Renault's Robert Kubica were on row four. The top ten was filled out by Liuzzi's teammate Adrian Sutil and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg. The notable absence from the top ten was the seven time world Champion Michael Schumacher who qualified 13th behind the two Williams cars of Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hülkenberg.

Turkey was a 4 horse race. Canada was a 5 horse race at the end but the beginning was chaos. Back markers getting in the way, Drive through penalties been issued, multiple pit stops called, tyre changes, the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Buemi leading the race. When it all settled down it was a fight between the McLarens, the Red Bulls and the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. Even then there was the problem of back markers like Karun Chandhok's Hispania and Jarno Trulli's Lotus. The victim of these two was Fernando Alonso. Lewis Hamilton took the lead off Alonso going around Chandhok while Jenson Button beat him going past Trulli. The Red Bull's tyre choices saw them slip back from Alonso who was slipping back from the McLaren's especially Hamilton. As you might be able to tell by the picture, it was a McLaren one-two

So Lewis Hamilton won, Jenson Button was second. Ferrari found new signs of life after Alonso finsihed 3rd. The Red Bull's domination is now contention only after a Webber leading Vettel to a four-five. Nico Rosberg continued Mercedes' above average performance with a 6th place ahead of Renault's Robert Kubica who happened to be the last finisher who wasn't lapped. Sebastien Buemi finished a solid 8th continuing to keep Toro Rosso moving. Finally the Force Indias of Vitantonio Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil beat Michael Schumacher for 9th and 10th. Our next stop is Valencia for the European Grand Prix

Turkish Grand Prix

Red Bull's fortunes weren't the same in Turkey as they were in Monaco.

In Qualifying Red Bull took another pole position, or more accuratly Mark Webber did. However this time there was a twist. A twist in the form of 2 silver cars. Lewis Hamilton split the two Red Bulls with Jenson Button behind Sebastian Vettel. The other 2 silver cars of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg filled up row 3. Felipe Massa split the Renault's of Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov while Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi rounded off the top ten.

Observers among you will notice that Fernando Alonso's name isn't among them. He struggled during qualifying and ended up behind Adrian Sutil in P12. Force India's other driver Vitantonio Liuzzi was back in P18 also due to poor showing. It wasn't all doom and gloom though, the recently Uncool Hispania team qualifyed ahead of another team on their own merits when Bruno Senna beat Lucas di Grassi for P22.

From the off the race was a four horse race. The Red Bulls pulled away as they usually do but this time the McLaren's kept with them. Hamilton kept edging closer to Vettel until a tactical screw up by McLaren. A poor choice of pit stop time saw Hamilton rejoin behind the second Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel. Behind them, everyone else was bunching up behind Michael Schumacher. The focus was on the front 4. Things were going Red Bull's way until lap 40. Sebastian Vettel decidedto have a go at overtaking Mark Webber and well the picture explains it all. Vettel's race was finished. Webber's car was damaged and had to pit. This handed the lead to Lewis Hamilton. A couple of laps later after Webber had rejoined in 3rd place, it was McLaren's time to crap their pants. Nicole Scherzinger, girlfriend of Lewis Hamilton nearly had a heart attack when Jenson Button attempted a similar move. Jenson got ahead but Hamilton kept his cool and retook the positin bringing the McLaren cars too close together. Needless to say, things calmed down after that.

Lewis Hamilton lead a McLaren one-two while Webber salvaged a 3rd place. Schumacher lead a Mercedes 4-5 ahead of Renault's Robert Kubica. Felipe Massa lead a Ferrari 7-8 with Force India's Adrian Sutil and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi finishing the top ten.

To make Red Bull's Weekend worse Sebastian Vettel dumped "Luscious Liz" and got into his new car "Randy Mandy".

Monaco Grand Prix

As you may be able to tell from the picture, Red Bull had a good race.

Once again Mark Webber lead from start to finish followed by his teammate Sebastian Vettel to secure a Red Bull one-two, and further demonstrate Red Bull's dominance.

The whole story of the race started on Saturday with Free Practice 3. Fernando Alonso crashed his car and damaged it beyond repair. This caused him to sit out qualifying and he started from the pit lane. The qualifyer who looked consistantly strong was Renault's Robert Kubica, but in typical Red Bull fashion he was robbed of Pole Position in the last seconds by Mark Webber. Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa lined up behind them which was a bit of a downer on Massa as both Webber and Kubica have both been linked with his seat. Britain's own Lewis Hamilton and his German counterpart Nico Rosberg were on the 3rd row. Behind them were their teammates with Michael Schumacher taking 7th and Jenson Button was 8th. The top ten was finished up with Williams' Rubens Barrichello taking 9th and Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Moving onto the race. Monaco is know for it's demanding track and retirements are almost a certainty. When I say that half of the racers retired, I'm not exaggerating. 12 out of 24 drivers made it to the finish line. The most notable retiree was the defending World Champion Jenson Button. An amateur mistake by his McLaren team saw his engine overheat and stop. The big one though was Jarno Trulli crashing with Karun Chandhok. Trulli's Lotus landed on top of Chandhok's Hispania and nearly on top of Chandhok himself. Fortunatley both drivers walked away unharmed. Joining Jenson Button (Lap 2), Jarno Trulli and Karun Chandhok (both Lap 70) as retirees were Nico Hülkenberg (Lap 1), Pedro de la Rosa (Lap 21), Timo Glock (Lap 22), Lucas di Grassi (Lap 25), Kamui Kobayashi (Lap 26), Rubens Barrichello (Lap 30), Bruno Senna (Lap 58), Heikki Kovalienen (Lap 58), and Vitaly Petrov (Lap 73).

The man of the race was clearly Mark Webber. Him aside that honour goes to Fernando Alonso who started from the pit lane and finishing 6th. He kept climbing up the field using his superior Ferrari to simply pass the Hispanias, Lotuses (Loti?) and Virgins. The Monaco Grand Prix is often precessional as it is a narrow track with very few opportunities for overtaking.So the top ten finished as so: 1st place went to Mark Webber and his teammate finished behind him in 2nd. The 3rd podium spot was taken by Robert Kubica. Lewis Hamilton was in a Ferrari sandwich. Massa took 4th, Hamilton 5th and Alonso 6th. Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Sebastien Buemi finished off the top ten.

The story of the race was actually an incident which happened on the last lap. The race ended under the safety car and on the last lap, the safety car went into the pits, as it does. When the safety car pulled in Michael Schumacher took advantage of a mistake from Alonso and overtook him. This raised debate as many were under the assumption that the race was finished because the safety car was out on the final lap. After a long debate the move was deemed illegal and Michael Schumacher was given a 12 second penalty. This demoted him to 12th place. The FIA has since revised its safety car rule.

So that is the story of the Monaco Grand Prix. I should also add that Mark Webber is now performing better than his Seriously Uncool teammate and has won the Monaco Grand Prix. This has made him jump from Uncool to Sub-Zero

Spanish Grand Prix

Firstly, I wish to do some teenage complaining. My parents have become Seriously Uncool due to nagging.

Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix continued the theme of Red Bull on pole. For this Grand Prix Red Bull locked out the front row. Another intresting fact was 3rd through 6th was taken by the world champions on the grid. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso took up the second row while Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher lined up behind them. Kubica, Rosberg, Massa and Kobayashi finished off the top ten.

The race wasn't the most entertaining race. The Circuit de Catalunya is a very demanding circuit with few opportunities for overtaking. Mark Webber lead from start to finish and easily brought 25 points to Red Bull and put himself back into the title race. His teammate had a familiar scenario of nursing the car home and picked up a lucky 3rd.McLaren had a good race for one of their drivers, Jenson Button finished in a solid 5th place. Lewis Hamilton ended up dissapointed as he was on course for 2nd but got a puncture on the penultimate lap and ended up retiring. To make matters worse for Lewis the person who did take second place was his bitter rival Fernando Alonso. Alonso's teammate didn't do as well 6th place was all he could manage and questions have been raised about him. Robert Kubica who finished 8th has been linked with his seat for next season. It is known that Kubica is admired by Ferrari and he is good friends with Alonso.

The new teams didn't have the best weekend. Lotus' Heikki Kovalainen did not start while his teammate Jarno Trulli finished 17th. Virgin had both cars make it to the finish line, Timo Glock in 18th and Lucas di Grassi 19th. Hispania had worse luck as drivers Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna both retired.

So that's what happened in Spain. Next week we are heading to Monte Carlo for probably the most famous Grand Prix.

Cool Wall Update.

A quick update on the cool wall. We are heading to Mercedes. Not the team, but it's drivers.

After Three time world champion Jackie Stewart said Nico Rosberg has extraordinary talent. This along with his father being a world champion and him not being a Formula 1 failure make Nico Rosberg Cool. For his teammate the news isn't so good. Jackie Stewart also said Michael Schumacher was incapable of driving a difficult car. While some may disagree, I cannot ignore the words of Britain's most successful Formula One driver. Michael Schumacher has gone from Sub-Zero to Cool. He is not uncool yet.

So The Cool Wall for the drivers.

Jenson Button: Well he is the reigning world champion. He is British. He is dating a model. He is proving his doubters wrong. We all thought Lewis Hamilton would be better than JB but we're wrong. Jenson Button is without a doubt Sub-Zero.

Lewis Hamilton: He is a known rule-breaker. He drives aggressively. He dates the only pussycat doll people have heard of. He is the youngest person ever to win the F1 championship. He has been labeled a dickhead. He has the support of Damon Hill. He out drove the F1 champion in his rookie season. On the flip side Bernie Eccelstone is a fan. Despite this Lewis Hamilton is Sub-Zero.

Michael Schumacher: 1994. 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004. Count them. Michael Schumacher is Sub-Zero.

Nico Rosberg: He looks like the typical pretty boy. As soon as he goes home I bet he sorts out his hair. Sorry Nico you are Uncool.

Sebastian Vettel: Well he has been on pole 3/4 times. He won the race where he was not on pole. That's bad. It gets worse. Sebastian Vettel calls his car "Luscious Liz". This makes Sebastian Vettel Seriously Uncool.

Mark Webber: He is performing worse than his seriously uncool teammate. Mark is a great guy but for now he is Uncool.

Felipe Massa: He is back after a head injury and he lead the championship after race 3. I think it's tough to argue. Felipe Massa is Cool.

Fernando Alonso: A two time world champion, a race winner this season. How can he not be cool? Simple, he is a cock. He left McLaren because Lewis Hamilton was faster. He pushed ahead of Massa in the pit lane in the last race. Ferrari have said they have nothing to do with that. We have the F1 cock. Fernando Alonso is Seriously Uncool.

Rubens Barrichello: He is just so likable. He's been around for a long time and deserves a good spot on the cool wall after the luck he's had. Rubens Barrichello is Cool.

Nico Hülkenberg: Nico who? Exactly. The reigning GP2 champion has no points so far and he should get some. End of. Nico Hülkenberg is Uncool.

Robert Kubica: He is outperforming his Renault. He is challenging for the world championship. He is however friends with Fernando Alonso. That makes Uncool.

Vitaly Petrov: He is Russian. He isn't afraid of the big boys. He has the support of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. He has achieved a points finish in his 4th race. He is actually Sub-Zero.

Adrian Sutil: He drives for Force India. Despite being Lewis Hamilton's best friend he is Uncool.

Vitantnio Liuzzi: He drives for Force India. That's that. Liuzzi is Uncool.

Sebastien Buemi: He beat his team mate last year and is now getting a taste of his own medicine. Buemi is Seriously Uncool.

Jaime Alguersuari: Jaime is the guy who is giving Sebastien Buemi a taste of his own medicine. Jaime Alguersuari is Sub-Zero.

Jarno Trulli: This has has been around in F1 for way too long and done way too little. Now he's complaining about his car. Shut up and get Racing. Jarno is Seriously Uncool.

Heikki Kovalaienen: He is making the most of his Lotus team. After stuggles with McLaren the pressure is off and he is doing quite well. I have therefor decided to label Hekki as a Cool driver.

Karun Chandhok: Don't ask me to explain it. I don't get why but I just think this guy is cool. I just don't get it. Karun Chandhok is Cool.

Bruno Senna: Thanks to his last name he is cool. This however comes under the condition that he produces results. I do not want to see another Nelson Piquet Jr. If I do, Bruno will be the most uncool driver on the grid. For now though, Bruno Senna is Cool.

Pedro de la Rosa: I'm in two minds. He is receiving stick from his boss, but I think it is unjust. I'm putting his fate in the hands of his next performance. For now he is Uncool.

Kamui Kobayashi: He is failing to live up to his hype. That is annoying and certainly not cool. Kamui Kobayashi is Seriously Uncool.

Timo Glock: He is being outperformed by his rookie team mate. His decision to join Virgin was admiralble but not cool. Timo Glock is Uncool.

Lucas di Grassi: He is beating his team mate. He is Brazillian. He is a rookie. He is Cool.

The Cool Wall

This is my way of apologizing for the long wait for the last entry. It is for the first time on this blog, time for my very own Cool Wall, Top Gear style. For those of you that don't know the cool wall, it is divided into four categories. Seriously Uncool, Uncool, Cool, and Sub-Zero.

I have looked at all the drivers and teams and decided which ones I think are cool. So here we go.

Firstly the teams:

McLaren: McLaren are known rule breakers, have an all British line up and they're British drivers are the two most recent World Champions. They were also found guilty of spying on Ferrari. I don't think anyone can argue. McLaren are Sub-Zero.

Mercedes: Mercedes are driving two German drivers under the guidence of Ross Brawn. One of those drivers is seven time world champion Michael Schumacher. That alone makes this team Sub-Zero.

Red Bull: A team owned by the most famous energy drink in the world and my personal favourite. However they are underpeforming. This causes them to be Cool rather than Sub-Zero.

Ferrari: The Prancing Horse. The most famous team in Formula one. The biggest rivals of the FIA. How could they not be Sub-Zero? Well the answer is simple. Fernando Alonso. He alone makes this team Seriously Uncool.

Williams: The poor man's McLaren. A team that hasn't won anything for years. They also run the FIA favourite Cosworth engine. There's nothing cool about them. They are Seriously Uncool.

Renault: Is this really a Renault team? Renaul own 25% of the team. The other 75% i owned by Gerad Lopez and his Genii Capital from Luxembourg. The car works so they're only Uncool.

Force India: They are basically McLaren in different colours. The team has been called "McLaren Lite". That is Uncool

Toro Rosso: The easiest one on the list I think. Toro Rosso are Red Bull's JUNIOR team. That is Seriously Uncool

Lotus: Oh God. Lotus are pretending they are the same team Colin Chapman made. They aren't. They are using the Cosworth engine. FIA favourite. If that isn't uncool enough, they are sponsored by CNN. Case closed, Lotus are without a doubt Seriously Uncool

Hispania: The team came very close to being uncool but I can't ignore the name of they're young driver. Bruno SENNA. That makes this team Cool

Sauber: Underachieving in races and one of their drivers has not yet finished a race. This team is therefore Seriously Uncool

Virgin: Finally Richard Branson's team. It has all the cool about it that anytime could possibly need. The only way the could screw this up, it to make complete arses of themselves. Oh wait, their fuel tank in too small. This team is therefore Seriously Uncool.

Drivers will be up later today.

Chinese Grand Prix

Er...Sorry.

It's been far too long and I should have done this earlier, but I think I can make up for it.


Well the report. Sebastian Vettel took pole position again. He failed to win again. Red Bull locked out a One-Two on the grid but failed to make an impact in the race. It's amazing what a little rain can do. There was nothing unusual about the starting grid. Front-runners were where they should be and the newbies were at the back. Qualifying was not all that interesting.

So why not move onto the race, which was fantastic. At the very beginning there was an incident when Fernando Alonso jumped the lights. This earned him a drive through penalty (you're all familiar with this term right?) If not then I'll explain. A drive through penalty means the driver on whom the penalty is imposed on must drive through the pit lane at a reduced speed. Well the victim was Alonso.

Then the rain. Jenson Button mimicked his smarts in Australia and got himself to the front of the pack. Jenson Button braved the damp conditions on slick tyres and he flew. Speaking of flying the major flyer of the race was actually McLaren's other driver. Lewis Hamilton was being a daring driver and making moves work. He also fufiled a dream. He raced against the seven time world champion Michael Schumacher wheel to wheel. Schumacher's recent struggles saw Hamilton come away as the victor but the wise head of Schumacher put up a fight.

Schumacher also jousted with the man said to be the next Michael Schumacher. Namely Sebastian Vettel. Vettel had an easier time due to the superiority of his Red Bull. After Vettel came Webber. It seemed that everyone wanted a piece of the seven time world champion. Schumacher eventually finished 10th.

Felipe Massa and Mark Webber fitted in at 9th and 8th but the big suprise was the man in 7th. Vitaly Petrov picked up his first points in Formula 1 with a solid drive. He fully earned those points and in my opinion he may just be one to watch for the future. Sebastian Vettel finished in a dissapointing 6th place. He was behind the Renault of Robert Kubica. He is making that Renault go fast, well done Robert. Despite his drive through penalty, Fernando Alonso finished 4th unable so beat the three silver cars.

Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes picked up another podium finishafter finishing 3rd. The story of the day however was McLaren's first One-Two since Monza 2007 when Fernando Alonso lead Lewis Hamilton to the finish line. This time Jenson Button lead Lewis Hamilton. It was also the first British One-Two since Damon Hill-David Coulthard back in 1995. I'm sorry if this isn't up to standard. I really am.

2010 Malaysian Grand Prix

Before I start talking about the race, I have to say a big thank you to Jennifer for the feedback. I hope I am able to get this entry near perfect. I would also like to thank Sarah and Vic for following my blog. I really didn't think it would get any followers so big thanks to you two.

Moving on to the main event. The heavens opened and the rain poured all through Friday practice and Saturday showed no signs of improvement. Mark Webber took a gamble during qualifying and beat the rain to take pole position by 1.3 seconds (believe me when I say that's a lot). He was the lucky one. The rain pushed Massa and Alonso in the Ferraris and Button and Hamilton in the McLarens to the back of the grid behind the two Lotus and Virgin cars.

The race was completely different. There was not a drop of rain all race. In the first corner Sebastian Vettel jumped the cars of Rosberg and Webber to take the lead and he never gave it up. That was the boring part of the race. The Red Bull RB6 might be fragile, but it is faster than 60,000 Manchester United fans leaving Old Trafford after an embarrassing FA Cup third round defeat.

The action was going on behind the top three. Hamilton, Button, Massa and Alonso all charged down the field with different rates of success. Hamilton flew past everything put in front of him. He did however have a little trouble against Renault's Vitaly Petrov. Button had a relatively easy time but the Ferraris weren't so lucky. They were held up by none other than Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari. The very same Alguersuari who gave Michael Schumacher hell one week ago. The Ferraris just couldn't get passed him until he pitted.

I mentioned Alguersuari and Schumacher for a reason. Michael Schumacher remembered what it feels like to not finish a race as he had a problem with his wheel. Jaime Alguersuari along with Nico Hulkenberg scored their first F1 points finishing 9th and 10th respectively.

Back to the luck of the prancing horse. After getting around Alguersuari Ferrari's next target was the McLaren of Jenson Button. Massa got passed, but Mr. Alonso failed to deliver. On the last lap, Alonso made an attempt and ended up producing a fantastic spray of smoke from his engine. He was out. Massa finished the race and found himself leading the championship.

Onto the new teams, Lotus didn't have much luck at their home grand prix which is different to the other two teams. Virgin Racing's Lucas di Grassi achieved the first finish of their debut season. Hispania Racing got both Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna to the finish line. Who knows? Perhaps we'll see them scoring points. Next stop: Shanghai, China!!!

2010 Australian Grand Prix

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8591390.stm
This is a picture from the BBC, I do not own it. See the URL for the picture.

Ok, the race in Bahrain was boring. Many F1 fans and some of the drivers as well were concerned that the Australian Grand Prix might not produce good racing. I have to admit I was one of these people. Well I have to say, that it was one of the most entertaining races I've seen. In Qualifying, Sebastian Vettel was on pole again with his teammate Mark Webber right behind him. Surely this was going to be Red Bull's race. Well it looked like that for half the race. Despite Mark Webber being in the thick of the acton, Sebastian Vettel was leaving all the other cars behind. He stormed off just like he did in Bahrain. A minor collision on the first lap resulted in Fernando Alonso pointing the wrong way and Michael Schumacher having to replace his front wing. The two of them had different fortunes from then on. While Fernando Alonso was moving quicker than Cristiano Ronaldo to a full length mirror, Michael Schumacher was being hassled by the rookies. Schumacher passed Virgin driver Lucas di Grassi, only to be re-taken moments later. Then Michael Schumacher was jousting for 11th place with none other than Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari. At the front The suprise was the Renault of Robert Kubica holding his own. Then came the race winning decision. Jenson Button decided that a couple of laps in was a good time to switch tyres. This was a decision questioned by Martin Brundle and David Coulthard. Why was Jenson Button doing this? Moments after he got out of the pits, Jenson Button went off the track. Things weren't looking good for the regining world champion. A couple of laps later nearly the entire grid came in for pit stops. I'm not exaggerating. Renault released Robert Kubica only to have Vitaly Petrov arrive 1 second later. all of a sudden Jenson Button finds himself in second place behind the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel who was flying. If only the unrelibility of the Red Bull struck again... Well it did. Sebastian Vettel was out and Button was in the lead. He was followed by Robert Kubica, Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, and Fernando Alonso. Nico Rosberg was also edging into the picture. McLaren called Hamilton in for another pit stop. This dropped Hamilton down behind Rosberg. However Hamilton was now moving faster than a cheetah on crack cocaine. He caught up to Rosberg and to the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso with Mark Webber right behind him. I would now like to reveal the quote of the race. Ferrari team tell Fernando Alonso that Hamilton is only 2.5 seconds behind him and he just says "I don't want to know." Despite all the numbers being on his side Hamilton was unable to pass the Ferrari and eventually got tangled up in Mark Webber. He ended up finishing 6th in front of Webber. When Jenson Button was called into the pits, nobody thought it was a good idea. Everybody's mind was changed when John Travolta waved the Checkerd Flag and Jenson Button was the first to pass. Kubbica finished 2nd for Renault while Felipe Massa led a Ferrari 3-4. Nico Rosberg was 5th followed by Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber. 8th place was taken by Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi and Rubens Barrichello of Williams took 9th. Michael Schumacher eventually did get passed Jaime Alguersuari and finished 10th. The one Lotus that did start made it to the finish line as did Hispania's Karun Chandhok. If this is what Australia gives us, let's bring on Malaysia!

2010 Bahrain Grand Prix

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8566770.stm
This is a picture from the BBC, I do not own it. See the URL for the picture.

First I apologize, I know it's a bit late.

At last! Formula One is back. This season is the most anticipated for a long time. So many things returned. Seven time world champion Michael Schumacher, his Mercedes team, The Senna name and the Lotus name. Mercedes returned after buying a 75% stake of the Brawn Team which won last years world championship. the Senna name returns in the form of Bruno Senna, nephew of the late three time world champion Ayrton Senna. This is hyped all the more by Ayrton's quote "If you think I'm fast, just wait until you see my nephew Bruno". Hopefully he will not turn out to be a Nelson Piquet Junior. Lotus returns thanks to the Malaysian government and Tony Fernandes. Mike Gascoyne who accquired the rights to the Lotus name received their backing and has put 2 cars on the grid. Now there's the hype of the top four teams. First there's McLaren. They have the two previous world champions driving their cars. Namely 2009 world champion Jenson Button and 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton. This coupled with the fact that both drivers are British makes it especially exciting for the Brits like me who love a good race. Now the biggest sporting rival to England is without a doubt is the Germans. What would be great would be if there was a German team similar to the British McLaren team. Well, there is. Mercedes Grand Prix joined the grid after buying a 75% stake of Brawn GP. They have signed Nico Rosberg, a consistant point scorer and son of 1982 world champion Keke Rosberg. Despite his father being Finnish, Nico decided to race under the German flag. Then comes the man I mentioned earlier. Seven time world champion Mr. Michael Schumacher felt the racing driver inside of him come back to life and now he joined his fellow countryman at Germany's Mercedes team. Then there's the 2009 constructor's runners up. The Red Bull team have remained unchanged. Same drivers: Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Same engine suppiler in Renault. However they are now a bit fast, particulary Mr. Vettel. Finally there's the Scuderia. Ferrari gave up on 2009 half way through the season. the result is the F10. A car which flies around any track. They also brought double world champion Fernando Alonso to join the party. A move which everyone knew was going to happen.

So the grid looks like this:

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: 1. Jenson Button (GBR) 2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR)

Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team: 3. Michael Schumacher (GER) 4. Nico Rosberg (GER)

Red Bull Racing: 5. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 6. Mark Webber (AUS)

Scuderia Ferrari: 7. Felipe Massa (BRA) 8. Fernando Alonso (SPA)

AT&T Williams: 9. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) 10. Nico Hülkenberg (GER)

Renault F1 Team: 11. Robert Kubica (POL) 12. Vitaly Petrov (RUS)

Force India Formula One Team: 14. Adrian Sutil (GER) 15. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA)

Scuderia Toro Rosso: 16. Sebastien Buemi (SUI) 17. Jaime Alguersuari (SPA)

Lotus Racing: 18. Jarno Trulli (ITA) 19. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)

Hispania Racing F1 Team: 20. Karun Chandhok (IND) 21. Bruno Senna (BRA)

BMW Sauber F1 Team: 22. Pedro de la Rosa (SPA) 23. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN)

Virgin Racing: 24. Timo Glock (GER) 25. Lucas di Grassi (BRA)

Moving onto the race. Sebastian Vettel took pole position in qualifying snatching it away from Fernando Alonso at the last minute. This made Vettel the favourite to win the race. Fernando Alonso lead a Ferrari one-two with Lewis Hamilton taking 3rd. The race wasn't particulary entertaining and failed to live up to the hype of the season. It was basically a precession, but then again the Bahrain Grand Prix generally is. Sebastian Vettel was flying away from everyone and would have won the race were it not for an issue with his spark plug. The Red Bull car last season was known for 2 things: Its speed and its unrelibility, nothing seems to have changed this year. He ended up finishing 4th. Mercedes had a 5-6 with Rosberg geting the better of the greatest driver in F1 history. Jenson Button beat the second Red Bull of Mark Webber for 7th place while Vitantonio Liuzzi and Rubens Barrichello finished 9th and 10th respectively. Lotus started as the best of the new teams with Kovalainen finishing the race and Trulli not finishing but getting classified. No other new team driver finished the race. McLaren have a whole new car compared to the horse and carriage they had at the beginning of last season. The big suprise for me was the improvment of the Force India team picking up 2 points with a 9th place. Williams continue their average performance with another small point gain. Bring on Australia.