Big question before the race is, will Kimi use the ‘free engine’ rule and take the new engine for Silverstone? It seems he will be using a new engine; that brings to another question, is McLaren quick enough to chase Ferraris? Seems McLarens are quick and can challenge Ferrari but only problem would be if BMWs squeeze themselves between Ferraris and McLarens it would be very hard to overtake them. BMWs have great straight line speed and I feel Silverstone will suit them perfectly.

Renault sounds promising and according to reports they have improved their car significantly during the testing. Force India has introduced a new spec car and it is much improved version and hopefully one of the drivers will get into Q2. Williams have been disappointing lately after a brilliant start to the season, but I am expecting Nico to perform better.

David Coulthard has announced his retirement; it would be his last home grand prix. He was very entertaining driver, sadly after he moved out of McLaren he did not get a better performing car otherwise he could have won more races [Current record 13 wins and 62 podiums]. We will surly miss him from the track.

Question : Which Formula1 team has participated in 382 races without scoring a win?

Another Ferrari dominated race and when some team is really fast then others race has to be boring. It was a circuit where overtaking is not very easy and once Ferrari’s had front row in qualifying, the only question was ‘Kimi or Massa, who will win the race?’
Hamilton started from 13th place, he started aggressively but had a drive through penalty because he cut one corner while overtaking. This penalty lost him all 4 places that he has gained during first 6 laps. Alonso started from second row, but Trulli overtook him in the beginning and drove an excellent race to finish on Podium. He truly deserved that position and got one of the best results for Toyota. Heikki tried to overtake Trulli in last stages of the race but Trulli defended very well.
Kimi was struggling with his car and Massa took full advantage of it to win the race. But before the problems started for Kimi, it was a spectacular move by Massa to snatch P1 from Finn. Another nice move was by Piquet who overtook Alonso to score his first points.
Honda was struggling throughout the weekend and Button faces the issues in 4th lap, he ran wide and had to retire. He was the only retirement of the race. Force India seems to have lost the momentum and are not competitive at all.

Yet another exciting race, this time it was not the weather but breaking surface that was responsible for most of the action. From the qualifying itself it was clear that grip will be a problem while accelerating after breaking and that proved bad for few drivers. Hamilton had the pace and his aggression overshadowed the brilliant run by Kubica who was at P2 for the race.

Race start was normal without incidents, but it was Adrian Sutil’s car which stalled at dangerous position and Safety car had to be deployed. Hamilton, Kimi, Kubica, Nico, Alonso pitted at same time, but then disaster happened. Kimi and Kubica were waiting for pit light to go green and Hamilton came from behind and banged into Kimi’s car and then Rosburg banged into Hamilton’s car, that was race over for Kimi and Hamilton, Nico had to get a new nose wing and rejoined the race. [Update: Hamilton and Nico have been penalized 10 grid places for French GP]

After that it was Kubica all the way, he was driving race of his life. Heidfeld was struggling but still managed to put everyone behind, thanks to BMWs straight line pace. Alonso was as usual very aggressive and was expecting a podium but mechanical failure caused his retirement. Massa was also very aggressive and made some wonderful overtaking moves, but he was facing some fuel filling issues and had to settle for P5 behind Timo Glock.

Morale from this race is: if we take out Ferrari’s and McLaren’s out of the race (or ask them to start from behind the grid) the race is much more interesting.

Yesterday’s Monaco GP was one of the best races I have seen in recent time (if we do not count Nurburgring 2007). A circuit which is narrower than the narrowest streets of another street circuit (Singapore) and that too in wet, it was the perfect setting. Ferraris started from the pole and were expected to break the jinx of winning for first time since 2000.

Race started with a bit of hesitation by Massa and Hamilton took advantage to snatched P2 from Kimi, Alonso also took the advantage and gained 2 places by first corner itself. Meanwhile Heikki had to start from the pits and it seemed race over for him. Alonso and Hamilton had a punctured tyre as they hit the wall, but regained the positions. Alonso was very aggressive and overtook Webber but after 2 laps he tried an ambitious overtake (inner line) over Nico and had a collision, they both had to pit and joined the back of the pack. Race never seemed to be dull, every turn was exciting and every overtake maneuver was delight for fans. Massa slipped from P1 to escape route but joined in P2 behind Kubica who was driving brilliantly. Hamilton’s first tyre puncture proved to be helpful as he has taken fuel and could use that as an advantage.

Most important part of race was Adrian Sutil for Force India, he was driving brilliantly and avoiding any incidents. He had climbed to P4 when Nico had a big shunt and safety car had to be deployed. After safety car the positions were Hamilton, Kubica, Massa, Sutil and Kimi. It seemed Sutil was all set for a P4 but aggressive drive by Kimi ended his run when he crashed into Sutil’s car while coming out of tunnel. That was a sad moment and commentators described Sutil’s situation perfectly as ‘inconsolable’.

Rosburg and Alonso drove very well in bad conditions, but sadly could not finish in points. Massa’s one mistake lost him P1 and I don’t want to comment on Kimi’s mistake.

When Ferrari dominated in Qualifying people were saying they might be running light, but it was all proved wrong with superb pace on Sunday. Ferraris were the fastest, 1 second faster than any other car on track. The results were bang on target as predicted (I bet my money on KR winner, one of the BMWs and McLaren on Podium, Alonso either 5-6, problems for Williams).

The race was a real challenge for Hamilton, he is always the best starting from first row, and it was a test for him. He did fairly well but was hampered by a bad pit stop and some excellent driving by Mark Webber. But with a track like Sepang where 4 cars can go side by side and there are plenty of overtaking opportunities, it was not a good drive by Hamilton; he should have gone up to third position with the way car is performing.

It was Alonso again who was brining out 100% from his car and the way he is driving he is earning fans at faster rate than he lost last year. I am sure by end of the seasons Renault can give him a better car and he will start fighting for podium. It’s nice to see Alonso letting his driving do that talking.

Man of the Race: Mark Webber for his excellent drive and the way he defended his position from much faster Hamilton for more than 20 laps and then from Alonso in dying stages of the race.

Move of the Race: Fernando Alonso for his brilliant move in first few laps when quick Nick, DC and Alonso were side by side on long straight.

Looser of the Race: Filipe Massa for losing the brilliant chance to score some nice points, he beat Rosberg who had an extremely poor run.

PS: Covering the race live @F1 is so much fun, I am getting to interact with lot of new people.

The most important change this season is the way Q3 has been shifted from fuel-burning session to normal session, and that change has brought life into qualifying. If Massa and Kimi were flying in Ferraris it was Hamilton was not far behind, but a small mistake and he was out qualified by Heiki. Alonso was the best of the pack; his car was not even comparable to the Ferraris but with the discipline and perfect driving he found a place in Q3. I should say the more of Alonso action I see; I develop more admiration for his driving. Trulli was another hero with nice and clean driving qualifying at P5. Disappointment was Nico Rosberg’s performance, with last week’s result I was expecting much more.

Now we have to see how Alonso performs in the race tomorrow, if it’s a wet race I will put my money on Alonso for a podium. At the top it would be race between Ferrari and McLaren, it would be nice to see how Kimi and Hamilton who were outperformed by underdogs (Massa and Heiki) try to get back number one slot. Another thing to watch would be how Hamilton does from P4, his starts from anywhere other than front row have never been successful.

See you live tomorrow at @F1.

First race of the season with a lot of rules changes (no fuel burning session, no TC, no braking aid, same gear box for 4 races, shorter Q3) added a lot of excitement, but sadly only six cars would finish the race. Hopefully in coming races we see less accidents and breakdowns.

Race turned out to be disaster for Ferrari, starting from qualifying when Kimi’s car had engine issue and had to start from P15; Massa could not outpace BMWs and qualified at P4. Massa had an accident on lap 1 and after that he was trying to recover throughout the race. He made a mistake and took DC out of race and in next lap he had an engine failure. Kimi was aggressive and it looked that he will get podium with one pit stop strategy and brilliant driving, but one late braking incident took him to gravel and then he was in recovery mode, his engine also developed a problem and had to retired. None of the Ferrari engines (Ferrari, STR and FIF1) could finish the race.

Everybody is praising Hamilton and McLaren for the pace and comfort with which they won the race, but I would say real heroes were Kimi and Alonso who started from the back of the grid and one by one overtook similarly competitive cars. It was fun watching champions attacking from behind and gaining positions. Hamilton has failed both times (Nurburgring and Interlagos) starting from back, so I would say if he would have started anywhere near P10 the story would be completely different. This makes me think the true champion will win under any circumstances and Patrick Head’s suggestion of reversing the F1 grid is awesome!

Another impressive performance was from Ruben who drove brilliantly but for making two mistakes (jumping pit lane stop signal both times) was disqualified. Sebastien Bourdais drove exceptionally brilliantly in this first ever GP but sadly his engine blew in penultimate lap. Williams is improving nicely and would say will compete with front runners this season, Roseburg was impressive. Other rookie Timo Glock also performed well but had a big accident.

For FIF1 it was a disaster and hopefully they will bounce back, looking at the pace of Adrian Sutil in only 8 laps he did we can say this season they will definitely be better than last year.