Round 2: Fixing Formula 1

I used to write a lot more about Formula 1. This is obviously not in a professional capacity at all, it's purely because I enjoy writing about a sport I've followed for over 25 years and if the occasional person enjoys a little read then all the better.

However, my output has steadily decreased over the last year. Not because I haven't been enjoying the racing (although admittedly 2015 was nowhere near being a classic... or good come to that), but because the constant political wrangling behind the scenes was beginning to just do my head in, to be ever so slightly flippant. I mean I like a bit of political intrigue in the F1 world, but this is now threatening the life of Formula 1. 

The governance of the sport has been sorely lacking for a while now, the teams, although often trying to appear to be on the side of the fans are often on the side of themselves, the drivers are often ignored.

So let's start with the present furore over qualifying. Last year and for the nine years previously we have been using a three session system where 5 or 6 cars get knocked out in each of the first two sessions leaving the final session with 10 cars going for pole position. It worked nicely, it was generally exciting, it caused the occasional upset. 

A few weeks before the 2016 season started the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone conjured up a new system with the aim of mixing up the grid to create better racing forgetting that this is not WWE and is in fact a sport. Nobody asked for a change in qualifying as there was nothing wrong with it but a change was eventually somehow voted through. The teams warned it wasn't likely to be good but common sense is something that long vanished from this sport.

At the first round in Australia it was rubbish, leaving the track empty by the end and any hope of a top runner messing up would have been just as likely with the old system. The teams all agreed to go back to the 2015 system but as there has to be unanimity for a change to be made in-season, this was blocked by the various structures that govern the sport. So despite everyone hating it, it stayed for the second race of the season. Guess what? Yep, wasn't great a second time round either.

The FIA and the Commercial Rights Holder offered an alternative of an aggregate system for the next race in China, again forgetting that everyone wants the old system and that an aggregate system in 2005 was dropped mid-season because it didn't allow for the spectacular foot to the floor on the edge laps that can grab pole position in the dying seconds which the likes of Lewis Hamilton excel at and makes for thrilling viewing.

This looks like it will run and run because it's not really about qualifying at all, as various journalists and broadcasters have said this is a battle ground for control of the sport which I won't get into right now. The qualifying saga is just a symptom of how poorly run this sport has become. 

There are many things that need to be sorted, the inequitable distribution of money to the teams (Sauber in particular are operating close to the line), the sums charged to the circuits which constantly means traditional tracks are up against it because they're not funded by some middle eastern royalty or a corrupt government somewhere (which I suppose could be anywhere). 

The messing around with the rules,the lack of a long term strategy, the sport being put on pay-tv thereby reducing overall viewing figures and sponsorship value and then wondering why viewing figures are falling and teams aren't getting enough money in, oh it must be the product, lets mess around with it.

Most importantly Commercial Rights Holders, the private equity firm CVC to sucking money out of the sport. Ideally somehow the European Commission (a complaint has been made to the European Competition Directorate by two teams) would tear up the current contracts governing the commercial rights but this could take years.

So here are a few thoughts which in an ideal world would be implemented.

• The FIA to appoint someone experienced in the world of Formula 1 to have over all control of the rule making side of the sport, someone like Ross Brawn. He would head a group of Formula 1 engineers to produce a 10 year road map for the sport so there is stability within the rules. However his decision would be the final decision with no team (looking at you Ferrari) having the right of Veto. 
• Technical regulations to remain partially road relevant but not to forget that these are meant to be exciting prototypes that should be raced to the edge. Rules to ensure close racing with more mechanical grip and less reliance on aerodynamics should be pushed through allowing us to get rid of gimmicks like DRS (although useful right now).
• To remember that this is a sport. Yes it should be entertaining but not at the expense of sporting purity. There should be no reverse grids, or qualifying sprint races, there is simply no need to mess around with the sport. You're not always going to get a thriller, but mostly the races are fine,some good, some great and some spectacular. There are many football games which are boring, but the authorities there don't suddenly think, we need to spice this up, lets stick an extra ball on the pitch.
• If CVC are still the commercial rights holder they would re-negotiate the current deals with the teams so that all teams receive the same amount of money, apart from any prize money resulting from their finishing positions in the constructors championship and sponsorship gained. Teams would agree for the good of the sport (yeah right).
• To keep the teams as even as possible a budget cap of $100-150 million to be imposed.
• A forward looking strategy for broadcasting the sport on TV and the internet. Some sports already broadcast on their own websites and on Youtube. This doesn't mean charging the earth though. The main objective should be to get the sport out to as many people as possible to create a new fan base.
• Securing traditional race tracks such as Monza, Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps on the calendar. A fairer deal for these circuits to allow them to make a profit and stop the sport heading to places which have no motor sport tradition and takes away from the core audience. In an ideal world there would be a core group of around 10-12 races with another six rotating every year to allow new events. Most importantly, make the races more of an event and something to be looked forward to.

If these were implemented I think we could look forward to a sustainable and exciting future for Formula 1. However, until Bernie Ecclestone departs its unlikely anything will change, especially while his 'employer' CVC are the main shareholders of the Formula One Group. Bernie did a lot of great things for Formula 1, but it is increasingly obvious he has lost touch and only wants few more dollars. If he's not careful his legacy will be how he destroyed a once great sport.

It would also be nice if FIA president Jean Todt decided to care about the sport, but the one thing he's tried to do recently is push a qualifying system no one wants, so perhaps it's best he stays away. The likelihood of anything changing soon is sadly not going to happen, but with the teams beginning to publicly voice their exasperation, the drivers stating their desire in an open letter to see the sports current governance abolished we can see that this current situation may just come to a head sooner rather than later. Hopefully it'll be for the better.

The race and a lot of positives from the Bahrain Grand Prix

So after all that negativity lets get on with some nice things. The Bahrain Grand Prix was a pretty good race, there wasn't anything overly spectacular about it but there were plenty of positives to take from it regarding the championship and there was some brilliant action through the field which was entertaining.

Overall the race had plenty of passing a lot of good strategy difference which helped to spice up the action and some great attacking and defensive driving.  As I mentioned in my Australian review, the extra tyre compound is really adding to the races and mixing it up nicely. It's a nice extra element on the strategy side which is actually adding something good to the sport.

Romain Grosjean once again starred for new team Haas with fifth, while Stoffel Vandoorne finished 10th putting in an assured debut for McLaren in place of the injured Fernando Alonso. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo took his second consecutive fourth place, his form looks promising and I can't wait for him to get the Renault power unit upgrade later in the season. Hopefully it'll really let him challenge.

Other notable performances came from Pascal Wehrlein in the Manor, he finished 13th but it was probably the first time in a normal dry race that Manor were really able to properly race with the other teams since they started competing in 2010, I think Wehrlein is a major part of that. 

A quick shout out to Marcus Ericsson finishing 12th for Sauber with some nice defensive driving while Kevin Magnussen came from the pit lane to finish 11th in the under developed Renault.

It was a disappointing day for Williams and Force India who despite having problems during the race just didn't seem to have the pace.

Meanwhile at the front Nico Rosberg made it two from two with a fairly easy drive to victory after a great start put him in the lead from second on the grid. For the second race in a row Lewis Hamilton's start wasn't the best, this time there was an attack from Valtteri Bottas that dropped Lewis  to seventh. He managed to climb back up to third despite damage. Bottas got a drive through penalty and could only manage ninth.

Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari finished second after making his own bad start and having to mount a come back with some great passing. Sebastian Vettel didn't even survive the formation lap, suffering an engine failure. It would have been good to see how much closer he could have got to Rosberg as he was a little quicker than Kimi all weekend. Reliability seems to be Ferrari's major problem so far this year. However, they are certainly closer and I think they'll be making Mercedes work increasingly hard as the season progresses.

With Rosberg's win giving him a 17 point gap to Hamilton, it's now time for Lewis to start coming back at him. Already we're looking like we're going to be getting a much more exciting title battle than we had in 2015.

all photographs taken from auto-motor-und-sport.de

Rosberg takes win after spectacular Alonso crash

As is traditional the Australian Grand Prix opened the Formula 1 season at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. After a Mercedes 1-2 in qualifying with Lewis Hamilton on formidable form with a brilliant pole position it was surely back to the normal routine as he commenced his bid for a fourth world title...

Of course so much has gone on to get to that point. The last four months has seen the teams working feverishly to get their cars ready, especially as the Australian race was brought forward by two weeks meaning a lot of the teams planning had to be shuffled. 

Testing showed Mercedes were strong but the hope was Ferrari had taken another step forward over the winter to really challenge, after qualifying this hope was rather dampened as they lined up nearly a second back from the silver cars.

A lot has changed in Formula 1 and a lot has stayed the same since the end of the 2015 season. Some of the more notable additions to this year was the new qualifying format, which I won't go into because it was so rubbish it's already looking like it'll be scrapped for the second round in Bahrain in two weeks time with the old system being brought back in. 

When will these people realise there isn't anything wrong with the format, it's the way the money is distributed and perhaps the way the rules are formed. Although if we could have consistent rules stability everyone would close up in the end. Today we saw that at the top and in the pack it's all looking rather promising, more on which later, for now lets continue to bitch about the stupidity.

So qualifying was one of the major changes that was magicked out of the air and so it proved the second point of things staying the same which is Formula 1 is ruled by chaotic decision making and ill-thought out ideas. Never mind, at least the team bosses got together on Sunday morning to get rid of such a pointless change in the first place.

A couple of other changes look like they are good additions with the addition of an extra compound of tyres available for each driver. Drivers are free to choose how many sets of each compound they want, two of which must be used in the race. It creates extra strategic options as seen in today's race.

The further restriction of radio transmissions mean the drivers are certainly more alone than they have been for years and are no longer the play things of the engineers sitting on the pit wall. This was relaxed slightly an hour before the race to allow strategy calls to be made between the teams and drivers. 

So let's go back to 'rather promising' aspects of the days events and the racing, because this is what we got today, a good race. Nico Rosberg picked up where he left off to take his first win of the year and his fourth consecutive victory when you include his winning of the last three races of 2015. Lewis Hamilton came through the pack to finish second after a faltering start where the Mercedes cars touched slightly and he dropped back to seventh.

So it seems on first look this was further demonstration that the old order of Mercedes way out in front was maintained from the previous couple of seasons. But this wasn't so, in qualifying Ferrari hadn't gone for a second run in Q3 whereas Mercedes cars had improved on their times. Ferrari's race pace was arguably as strong as the German giants, certainly their starts were light years ahead.

Engine notes raised, lights out, Vettel launched between the silver cars, Hamilton was sluggish away while Rosberg hung on claiming the inside line, but a bit of squeezing from Vettel let the Ferrari through and clear he went. Rosberg hung on so long, he almost clattered into Hamilton, he did shove him wide though allowing the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen through, the brilliantly qualified Toro Rosso's of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, and Felipe Massa in the Williams got ahead as well.

Even fans of Mercedes must have been praying for such a start, now we had a race on our hands. So the Ferrari's led in 1-2 formation on a track which is difficult to pass on. Rosberg closed up a bit but never really challenged while behind Lewis began his comeback passing Massa but getting stuck behind the Toro Rosso drivers.

Then came lap 17, battling in the midfield Fernando Alonso proved just how safe Formula 1 cars are these days. He came up behind Esteban Gutierrez in the new Haas car as they approached turn three, feinted to the right then to the left, but it seemed Alonso misjudged the speed differential or Gutierrez braked a little earlier than expected, but whatever happened (the stewards deemed it a racing incident) Alonso smashed into the back of the Haas, his McLaren speared into the wall and towards the gravel trap which pitched it into a barrel roll. 

The television coverage picked up Gutierrez's car first and as it zoomed out we caught site of Alonso scrambling out of an upside down and completely mangled McLaren. It was a miraculous escape for the double world champion. 

The safety car was initially deployed but a red flag soon flew and the race was stopped. This means any damage can be fixed in the pit lane and tyres can be changed. it's effectively a free pit stop. This helped determine the result. Before the stoppage, Kimi had lost a place to Rosberg during the first round of stops. Both Ferrari's were on super-soft tyres, the quickest of the compounds but not very durable.

Rosberg was on soft tyres, but during the stoppage switched to mediums, which were likely to get him to the end of the race. Hamilton had already elected to switch to mediums to help him get ahead of the Toro Rosso's and not have to stop again. The Ferrari team decided to stay on super-softs meaning they would definitely have to stop again. It was a decision that turned a likely Ferrari win into a Mercedes victory.

When the race got going again, Vettel pumped in a few quick laps extending his lead over Rosberg, but the Mercedes soon was on his pace and then started to catch him. When Vettel pulled into the pits with 22 laps left to go it was game over for the win, it was now his mission to hunt down Hamilton. By this time Kimi was already retired, flames coming from the air box.

The Toro Rosso's got out of the way of Hamilton as they also needed to stop, leaving Lewis to try and catch Rosberg, but Nico was wise to it and maintained a 10 second gap. Vettel closed the gap to Lewis, but locked up with a couple of laps to go losing him a chance of second.

So Rosberg crossed the line to win, Lewis was happy to come back for second while Vettel seemed happy enough with the knowledge that his car looks like it will help him to challenge for the title. 

Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth after an inspired drive, and my Star of the race. Red Bull have produced a great chassis, and although still down on power the Renault engine in the back has been improved. He started eighth but dropped a place at the start. However before the red flag he had worked his way up to sixth with a few late braking passing moves before moving up to fourth as those around him pitted. Not having pitted he got a free pit stop, but kept a good pace to keep up with the leaders. It was a strong drive, he'll be in the mix this year at many more races along with his team mate Daniil Kvyat who didn't even make the start following a problem as the grid formed up.

Felipe Massa took a lonely fifth, while Romain Grosjean in the Haas also hadn't pitted by the time of the stoppage and found himself in ninth when the race restarted. With retirements and others pitting he worked his way up to sixth, but although slightly fortuitous it showed how much genuine pace is in this new car and team as he held off challenges from behind. A brilliant start to this new teams life in the top rung of motor sport. 

Force India was another team which could have had a better team, Sergio Perez losing out to finish only 13th although Nico Hulkenberg got them some points with seventh holding off the recovering Williams of Valtteri Bottas, the Williams driving recovering from 16th on the grid after a gearbox penalty.

The Toro Rosso's ended up with Sainz ahead of Verstappen due to the Spaniard pitting first. This caused the teenager to get quite creative with his language on the team radio, they're both going to be great entertainment this year and if not for the red flag would have finished much higher up than ninth and tenth.

Amongst the other runners Jolyon Palmer made his debut for the reformed Renault team and impressed straight away by out qualifying his highly rated returnee team mate Kevin Magnussen who had a year on the sidelines in 2015. Palmer showed off some great defensive work against Bottas, both he and Magnussen will provide good drama.

Sauber were pretty awful, Manor are still at the back albeit closer and with Pascal Wehrlein they have a star on their hands. McLaren were having a much better start than last year and are at least able to race although after Alonso's crash, Jenson Button's strategy calls weren't the best.

So in summing up, until Formula 1 is out of the hands of a private equity firm it will continue to lurch from stupid decision to stupid decision and not treat the teams or circuits fairly, actually the product is pretty good and is not what needs changing.

Haas are a genuinely nice surprise, McLaren look like they have a platform to at least make progress and the lower midfield are well capable of mixing it with the higher end midfield runners. Williams, Force India and Toro Rosso are going to be locked into a great fight, Renault will have a difficult season but will spring a few surprises.

I truly believe once Red Bull get an engine upgrade in Montreal from Renault (if it's good) they will become contenders for victory, as it is I think they'll mix it up on occasion. 

At the very front, after Lewis' late season form in 2015 allowed Rosberg the luxury of a few easier weekends he was as strong as ever in Australia and was only undone by a poor start. Rosberg looked to have reverted to type during practice and qualifying but it was a strong race performance and a nice aggressive start. At Ferrari Kimi looks to be on the pace while Vettel should have taken the win, but he has a car to do battle with and that might well be enough. It's all set up nicely and I think we can be quietly confident this season is going to be a bit of a cracker.

all photographs taken from auto-motor-und-sport.de & autosport.com

Rosberg ends the season in style

Winner and star of the race

Where was this form at the beginning of the year? Nico Rosberg took his sixth win of the year and his third in a row. In fact it's been all Rosberg since Lewis wrapped up the championship in America.

Nico was dominant in qualifying, over a third of a second clear as he took his sixth pole position in succession. He streaked away at the start and in truth despite Lewis coming at him in the middle of the race had everything under control.

Hamilton has complained that he feels the way the car has been developed over the latter part of the season has kept him from finding that final bit of pace, but let's not take anything away from Rosberg, he has been in fine form and this is brilliant momentum to take him into the winter and will have him very hopeful for 2016.

But of course 2016 is a whole new beginning. Mercedes should still be strong but Ferrari are after them with particularly Sebastian Vettel surely a major championship challenger next year, but perhaps more importantly for Rosberg, Hamilton will have reset. It should not be forgotten he took the title this year with relative ease, clinching it with three rounds to spare. 

Hamilton has been living the high life even more since he won the title and it's got to be said that even though it might be that he's not as comfortable with the car it's also not too difficult to suggest that perhaps he's taken his eye off the game just a little since he took the big prize. 

With the season starting afresh I expect Lewis to come back stronger and more focused which is when we'll really see if Rosberg can handle another bruising title campaign. With Vettel looking like he'll be part of the fight next year it's even more important that Rosberg can start as strongly as he's finished this year otherwise he may get relegated to a support role for Lewis, something I'm sure he wouldn't enjoy at all. For now though, Rosberg will be feeling confident and that's a good feeling to have as we start the off-season.

Lewis Hamilton finished second and was again arguing with the team about strategy as he tried to get ahead of his team mate, but once again he was found lacking. I'm sure he'll come back stronger as long as he doesn't let those thoughts that Mercedes were trying to help Rosberg out in these last few races.

Kimi Raikkonen produced probably his best weekend of the year with strong qualifying and racing to finish third, while his Ferrari team mate Vettel fought from 15th on the grid to finish fourth. 

Force India's Sergio Perez was a contender for star of the race as he started fourth and finished fifth in what has been a great run of form for the Mexican. His team mate Nico Hulkenberg was way off his pace in seventh. Splitting the Force India's was Daniel Ricciardo who drove a feisty race for sixth, while Williams disappointed as they released Valtteri Bottas into Jenson Button during a pit stop earning him a penalty and a new front wing. Felipe Massa wasn't much better off as he lacked pace for only eighth. A disappointing end to 2015 for Williams.

Romain Grosjean gave a great showing after a grid penalty dropped him to 18th at the start. He rose to ninth with some great battling and a good strategy. It was his last race for Lotus as he goes to join new team Haas next year. Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat claimed the last point.

The battles

Once again we relied on the midfield to provide our entertainment after what was another less than thrilling race. Carlos Sainz was the stronger Toro Rosso driver this weekend with Max Verstappen suffering a scrappy Sunday evening. Jenson Button in the McLaren enjoyed his fighting despite only finishing 13th. Fernando Alonso wanted to retire early after taking out Pastor Maldonado at the start and having to change his front wing and then getting a drive through penalty. It's not been a good year for him. Rumours continue to circulate that the Spaniard may not even drive next year if Honda and McLaren haven't seriously raised their game by the first test.

Reflection

It's been another dominant campaign for Mercedes, but unlike last year until the title was sewn up, Rosberg hasn't been able to match Hamilton for much of the season resulting in a rather uninspired title fight. However, this shouldn't take anything away from Lewis who has driven beautifully for most of the year. His qualifying speed was electric for the first two thirds of the season and when that hasn't been there, he's been aggressive off the start and put Rosberg in his place. I don't think he'll be overly concerned by Rosberg's recent run of form, Hamilton is still the champion after all. 

It's good that Ferrari have slowly begun to catch Mercedes. The scarlet cars are not quite able to match them yet, but another winter could see them make the step up to be silver beaters. Vettel will certainly be ready, he's been rejuvenated this year after struggling during his final season at Red Bull.

At the other end of the grid, the once mighty giant of Formula 1 McLaren will be hoping for something special from Honda over the winter. By all accounts the chassis wasn't too bad, but if Honda can't find the solutions they seek it'll be another tough year facing them.

Special mentions for Perez, Ricciardo and Grosjean, who I think have all delivered strong campaigns this year. Perhaps though it is Max Verstappen who could well be many peoples driver of the year just for his entertainment factor, he has produced some truly inspired driving. Many times this season he has livened up some fairly insipid races.

It's a fact that this year hasn't produced the racing at the front that everyone desires. Sometimes sport is like that though and we shouldn't have overreaction, Formula 1 is still a fine product, and as rules stay the same so competition will close up. I expect a far fiercer battle at the front next season.

Of course this year has been tormented by politics, particularly with regards to money and teams and even the sports rule makers and owners never seeming to be willing to look at the big picture. Hopefully after two teams made a complaint to the European Competition commission there will be some much needed action to put the teams and the sport on a much more even footing and we can concentrate on the racing. For too long have we had to worry about teams and circuit finances and it's time it stopped.

Already teams will be focusing on next season, there's a tyre test next week in Abu Dhabi before real testing for 2016 gets going at the beginning of February. Formula 1 never rests...

photos taken from auto-motor-und-sport.de and autosport.com

Grosjean storms to podium as Hamilton wins

Star of the race

Romain Grosjean was the undoubted star of the Belgian Grand Prix as he rose up the order from ninth on the grid to take the final podium place with a tremendous carefully constructed drive which demonstrated that despite the problems Lotus have had over the last 18 months he is still a driver of the top drawer and one that deserves a crack at a top team.

He qualified a brilliant fourth but was forced to take a five place grid penalty due to a gearbox problem that relegated him to ninth. A fine start ensued he was mixing it with the Red Bull's, Williams' and Ferrari's as soon as the lights went out.

He made some great DRS assisted moves along the Kemmel Straight into Les Combes, particularly on Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo, always leaving them enough room but giving them no opportunity to get back at him. They were sweetly executed, he really is one of the finest overtakers currently in the sport.

After the rounds of pit stops, most going for a two stop strategy, Grosjean lay in fourth place behind Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari which was attempting to just pit the once. Vettel questioned the decision but with two laps left and the Lotus hunting him down his right rear Pirelli let go shredding itself down Kemmel, Grosjean swept past to take his first podium since 2013. 

It was a starring drive which offered the cash strapped team a well deserved fillip. Rumours go Renault are looking to buy back Lotus and make them a works team once again, although there are further stories linking Renault with Force India. Both teams are currently using the dominant Mercedes power unit so surely a switch to the rather lame Renault unit would be a step back, at least until they get it right, if they do.

For now though the team can bask in a fantastic performance, which might have been even better had Pastor Maldonado not encountered an engine problem.

The winner

World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton extended his lead to 28 points over his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg after a dominat win. This race was the first with the new start rules which forbid the teams from telling the drivers to alter the clutch settings after they leave the pit lane to go to the grid. It made little difference, although Rosberg did get a poor start which left him down in fifth.

Hamilton made a good enough start to lead into the first corner. The only slight wobble in his whole afternoon was on the first lap when he came over the top of Raidillon, getting just slightly out of shape which allowed Sergio Perez's Force India to slip stream him up the hill getting slightly ahead before having to back out.

Hamilton was away and clear and never looked back. Rosberg fought his way through and used good strategy to get into second but once again never looked like troubling his team mate. Rosberg really has sadly slipped into the role of Mark Webber against Vettel at Red Bull. Any real threat of a title battle between the two is just an illusion and one which is getting increasingly easy to see through.

Vettel was an outside bet to challenge and as he lay third in the closing laps it looked like he had plucked an unlikely result out of the air after starting just eighth. After his tyre let go he fell out of the points and now lies 67 points adrift.

Lewis is one of those drivers who if put in the best will clear up and currently he's doing just that.

The battles

There were a number of alternative stars of the race, in particular Max Verstappen who was sensational in his on track fights. His move on Felipe Nasr around the outside of Blanchimont at nearly 200mph was sensational. He was rewarded with eighth place after starting just 18th after a grid penalty.

Perez was another who starred, particularly early on, but the Force India driver couldn't hold on to a podium spot, slipping to fifth at the end of the race. Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull was again fighting as hard as anyone out there. Powered by Renault they were running the car with very little wing but yet he was a podium contender throwing the car round the long fast turns, but an electrical problem shut down his car taking him out of the race and causing a virtual safety car.

The Williams' of Felipe Massa started sixth and finished sixth but was involved in plenty of scraps along the way while Valtteri Bottas started third but was soon pushed down the order and suffered a drive through penalty after his team sent him out with one medium compound tyre on his right rear with the other wheels fitted with softs. Not a great afternoon as he fell to ninth. Bottas is an outstanding driver but he often seems to lose out in wheel to wheel confrontation. Both Williams cars seemed to be losing out down the straights, surely a case of the car running too much wing on a circuit that they were expected to star at.

Daniil Kvyat in the second Red Bull charged through at the end of the race to finish fourth which saw him go above his team mate Ricciardo in the drivers standings which after his tepid start to the season is quite the achievement.

Kimi Raikkonen ended up seventh after starting 16th, he was involved in plenty of fights but couldn't make the progress he'd have wanted. Still, he's signed up for another year at Ferrari now so hopefully his luck will change soon if he wants a final hurrah in what will surely be his final season in Formula 1.

Marcus Ericsson got Sauber back in the points with tenth after a solid drive. 

Things of note

Honda brought an upgraded engine to Belgium that was hoped would match the power output of Ferrari. It seemed to fall way short of that target in what is becoming an increasingly laughable campaign for the Japanese manufactuer and McLaren. In fact Jenson Button seemed to let off a bit of steam by calling the race embarrassing and confessing to not enjoying his Formula 1 that day. 

He was with his electrical energy through most of the race, so there was little he could do to fight after he had out qualified his team mate Fernando Alonso by over half a second with what Button described as a lap to equal his pole position in 2011.

Lotus are in further troubles with a threat to have their cars impounded due a contractual dispute with former reserve driver Charles Pic. This comes after other money issues which has meant development has been scarce this season. A reunion with Renault couldn't come soon enough to ensure their longevity but as mentioned earlier it seems a link up with Force India and Renault may scupper that too.

The title fight

Vettel's tyre letting go has almost certainly destroyed any chance of a title fight emerging this season. The German was justifiably furious at the incident, seemingly blaming Pirelli who themselves say they were surprised that Ferrari went for a one stop strategy. 

Whatever, it has taken away a threat from Hamilton who when everything runs smoothly has Rosberg firmly under control. This is Lewis' title to lose. 

Result

1. Hamilton - Mercedes

2. Rosberg - Mercedes

3. Grosjean - Lotus

4. Kvyat - Red Bull

5. Perez - Force India

6. Massa - Williams

7. Raikkonen - Ferrari

8. Verstappen - Toro Rosso

9. Bottas - Williams

10. Ericsson - Sauber

11. Nasr - Sauber

12. Vettel - Ferrari

13. Alonso - McLaren

14. Button - McLaren

15. Mehri - Marussia

16. Stevens - Marussia

R. Sainz - Toro Rosso - Power Unit

R. Ricciardo - Red Bull - Electrical

R. Maldonado - Lotus - Transmission

R. Hulkenberg - Force India - Did not start

all photos taken from autosport.com

Rosberg back to life with dominant Spain win

Star and winner of the race

You can't give star of the race to anyone else today. After everything Nico Rosberg has been through over the opening races to put in a performance like he did was seriously impressive. A brilliant pole position, a wonderful start, he was never troubled.

Might it have been different if Lewis Hamilton hadn't have lost second place at the start to Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari? Possibly but we'll never know. To my mind at least Rosberg looked to have the edge over his Mercedes team mate in Spain, so I think we can conclude that today was simply Rosberg's day. 

He had looked almost defeated after only four races in which Hamilton had beaten him severely each time out. Lewis was unrelenting and was crushing Nico. At least now Lewis knows he might just get a fight for this world title yet. Rosberg looked so relieved when he got out of the car, and I think many of the fans, even Lewis ones, will rejoice that we might actually get a fight for the title now.

Of course it's too early to say whether that will be the case. It's just one race and I'm sure this result will make Lewis more determined than ever to go flat out to beat Rosberg at the next event. However, the next event is Monaco where Rosberg has won for the past two years. Could this be the start of a title fightback? Monaco will reveal whether this was a flash in a pan or a sustained attack against the Hamilton juggernaut. 

The battles

Hamilton nearly dropped to fourth at the start but just about managed to fend Valtteri Bottas' Williams off to only lose the one position to Vettel. It cost him a potential fourth victory, but it did inspire a great tense battle between the #44 Mercedes and the lead Ferrari.

For lap after lap Hamilton hounded Vettel, although he thought it impossible to pass it didn't stop him trying, but despite being within a second most of the time to enable the DRS he just couldn't quite get alongside to make the move stick. At the first round of pit stops only an ill fitting tyre stopped him getting out ahead of Vettel who pitted one lap later.

It of course meant he was stuck once again but changing to a three stop strategy while most of the field were going with a two stopper vaulted him ahead of Vettel, but while they circled together it was a good fight.

It also showed what I like about DRS, that it can let someone get closer but doesn't always give them an easy pass when the cars are fairly equal. Having said that other battles down the field showed DRS to work a bit too well as the Toro Rosso cars were swamped as their lack of straight line speed left them sitting ducks with clipped wings ready to be rolled into a pancake.

Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen had loaded on the wing which made them great for overall lap time. They lined up fifth and sixth on the grid, but when the racing started they just couldn't stop people shooting past them. It was to Sainz's credit that he still managed to hold off the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat on the final lap to finish ninth. Verstappen fell to 11th.

Massa had a good short fight up the order from his ninth starting position. He made a great start but was squeezed out at turn two which dropped him back again, still he made a few decent passes to end up sixth. Kimi also battled his way up with a brilliant opening lap which took him to fifth from seventh. There he stayed until the end of the race despite catching Bottas late on to challenge for fourth, but he couldn't make it count.

The Lotus cars were involved in a few decent scraps too, not least one between them as Romain Grosjean clashed with Pastor Maldonado leaving the Venezuelan with a damaged rear wing. Despite looking strong once again, more contact, probably not his fault admittedly, left him with eventual retirement. It was left to Grosjean to pick up a now traditional eighth place. He's driving well despite a telling off from the team for not taking care of his gearbox. I've a lot of time for Grosjean and would like to see him step up to a bigger team if Lotus don't ascend soon.

All in all it was a fairly entertaining race, but not one that will last in the memory which apart from maybe Malaysia has been true of all the races so far this season. We need a spectacular one soon.
  
Things of note

I found it interesting that a lot was made of Kimi not having all the new tonne of parts that Ferrari brought with them. They were all to be found on the sister car of Vettel. Some in the F1 media are beginning to suspect that Vettel may have a no. 1 status line in his contract, something I'm not sure Kimi is entirely aware of and may find increasingly frustrating.

All in all it wasn't a great day for Ferrari despite their third and fifth result. Vettel ended the day over 45 seconds behind Rosberg. All these updates and it actually looked like they had taken a step backwards.

On the other hand a step forwards from Williams and Red Bull is to be welcomed. Williams were much more on the pace of at least Ferrari, so perhaps that final podium slot might see the red of the Scuderia replaced with the Martini colours of Williams.

Daniel Ricciardo came home seventh for Red Bull which doesn't sound like the best result in the world for a four time championship winning team, but the pace wasn't so bad. They're at least going in the right direction, they just need Renault to get their power unit in full working order.

McLaren looked to be making progress in qualifying with both cars in Q2 for the first time this year. Sadly the race turned out to be a shambles. Jenson Button complained the rear of the car felt like it wasn't connected to the front, these handling difficulties left him trailing in 16th. Alonso fared even worse when brake failure almost resulted in the Spaniard knocking his pit crew to the floor. There was some hope though as he ran as high as seventh at one point and reckoned a couple of points might have been a reward. They are targeting Monaco for a surprise result.

The title chase

Rosberg brought himself to just 20 points off Hamilton's lead in the drivers championship with victory. There's one reason from today's race why I think he's still fighting a battle he can't win. Once Lewis' final stop was done he was about 20 seconds off Nico.

His engineer Pete Bonnington got on the radio and said to turn the car down and just bring it home for second. Hamilton asked if it was possible to catch Rosberg, he was told it wasn't likely. He responded with so it's not impossible? 'Bono' as he is known said it was.

The next lap Lewis laps a second quicker than Rosberg. If there's even a small chance he's going to have a go. Admittedly a few laps later Lewis called off the fight when he realised he couldn't claw back his team mate, but it showed the very essence of the man, he just won't give up. If that situation had been Rosberg, he would have immediately followed his teams advice. 

It's looking more likely that Mercedes have got Ferrari under control for now. Although Vettel keeps on finishing on the podium so he's still up there, he has to start beating both Mercedes again if he's to stand a chance.

The Spanish result will give Rosberg some hope and impetus as he heads to Monaco. As I mentioned he's won for the last two years around the streets of the principality, if he can do it again it's game on, or at least it would be nice to think so.

Result

1. Rosberg - Mercedes
2. Hamilton - Mercedes
3. Vettel - Ferrari
4. Bottas - Williams
5. Raikkonen - Ferrari
6. Massa - Williams
7. Ricciardo - Red Bull
8. Grosjean - Lotus
9. Sainz - Toro Rosso
10. Kvyat - Red Bull
11. Verstappen - Toro Rosso
12. Nasr - Sauber
13. Perez - Force India
14. Ericsson - Sauber
15. Hulkenberg - Force India
16. Button - McLaren
17. Stevens - Manor Marussia
18. Mehri - Manor Marussia
R. Maldonado - Lotus
R. Alonso - McLaren - Brakes

all photo's taken from autosport.com

Hamilton never troubled in Bahrain

Star of the race

The Bahrain Grand Prix looked spectacular under the lights, with a magnificent fireworks display to greet the winner, if only the race could have been equally spectacular, although there was enough to keep the average viewer interested. A lot of the consensus from the F1 media was that Nico Rosberg had done a lot this race to reassert himself in the title chase and had showed renewed vigour. Does this make him star of the race? No, he was still pretty comprehensively outshone by his team mate Lewis Hamilton. 

Kimi Raikkonen is my personal star, he drove superbly and perhaps with a tweak to the strategy might have been able to challenge for the win, although I find that doubtful. He had plenty of pace, although I feel he was rather mugged by Rosberg into turn one in the early stages after he'd grabbed third ahead of the Mercedes driver at the start.

As he was when he came back from his rally travels a few years ago, he showed relentless consistency of pace and after being out of pit stop sequence with the other leaders he clawed back the gap when he switched to soft tyres 17 laps from the end. 

He took advantage of Rosberg's failing brakes to move into second but even without that I think he might just have sneaked ahead. As Lewis' brakes went the same way, Kimi carved into the lead, another lap and it might have been a brilliant victory. It was a good race for Kimi, his first podium since 2013, his first race finishing ahead of Sebastian Vettel in 2015 and a reminder that there's more than one Ferrari driver who's going to give Mercedes a few headaches this year.

The winner

On any other day I'd have handed the star of the race to Hamilton but a Kimi podium has been a rarity and it was good to see the Ferrari driver get the result he's deserved this season. 

All the talk before the race had been of Ferrari providing a significant threat and even being touted as favourites to win ahead of the Mercedes cars.

However, Hamilton was in a class of one today, as he has been pretty much all the season so far. He scored a stunning pole position, he led the most laps from the start and pretty much cruised to the chequered flag even with the failing brakes I mentioned above.

The only hint of trouble was when Mercedes brought Rosberg into the pits first to cover off Vettel. It meant the duelling Rosberg and Vettel were right behind Lewis when the #44 Mercedes exited the pit lane. But Hamilton remained calm and gently pulled out a gap again. In truth he was never troubled, at the present moment he's got Rosberg firmly under the thumb.


The battles

As I've said a lot has been made of Rosberg's aggressive approach to the race today. To be fair, he sometimes does make a meal of getting past people but other times he's quite decisive. Today it was nearly ultra clumsy as he dived ahead of Kimi, nearly making contact, but the other moves he made on Vettel were fairly clinical DRS assisted moves he made look easy.

It did look awesome though, under the lights the sparks from the cars shone brightly and made these high powered machines appear all the more impressive for it. It's all very well passing Ferrari's but he couldn't get near his team mate even when given the opportunity after the first pit stops. 

Having said all that it was still a decent performance by Nico and although it might have been difficult to hold Kimi off, his late race brake problems certainly cost him a chance of defending from the Ferrari. A third was still a decent reward for his afternoons work.

Behind the top three Valtteri Bottas in the Williams took fourth after holding off Vettel for 20 laps. It was a fight Vettel never got too close to winning. In truth the Ferrari driver should have been several seconds up the road fighting for a podium. After a great qualifying he'd started second, but let Rosberg by too easily three times. He got ahead in each of the stops but couldn't hold the Mercedes back. 

He also had a hat-trick of off the road moments, the final time resulting in front wing damage which meant an extra pit stop that dropped him behind Bottas. It was probably a relief for the Finn who before had run a rather lonely race and might have been on the edge of falling asleep. Vettel later blamed his problems on failing to find a rhythm as the rear end of the car wasn't to his liking.

Other notable fights were the Saubers and Force India's mixing it up with each other and various other cars. Fernando Alonso's McLaren finished 11th after having some nice moments including unlapping himself from Kimi. The Toro Rosso's both retired after being off the pace in the race despite a top 10 grid slot from Carlos Sainz.

Felipe Massa launched a nice charge from the back of the grid after an electrical problem meant he couldn't start from his sixth placed grid slot. His tyres faded on a two stop strategy and he ended up with just tenth place. 

Sergio Perez in the Force India mixed it up nicely too on a two stopper to move ahead of many midfield three stoppers to come home eighth while his team mate Nico Hulkenberg tumbled from eighth to only 13th.  Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat took two points for ninth after starting 17th. Kvyat needs to step up a gear when F1 returns to Europe in three weeks.

Daniel Ricciardo in the lead Red Bull and Romain Grosjean in the Lotus were the last runners not to be lapped as they ran solitary races to finish sixth and seventh respectively. 

Things of note

When will something go right for Pastor Maldonado? He's quite capable of being a quick driver and scoring decent points but he's also brilliant at screwing up his weekends too. As his team mate Grosjean qualified in the top 10 again and scored points for a second consecutive race, Pastor failed to get out of Q2, drove through the pack only for this time to have a disastrous pit stop with smoke pouring from his brakes. 

Even when he's driving well something seems always to upset the number 13 car... But he should be making more of the car, his team are known to be getting a bit fed up with him but what can they do when he brings so much money to them.

McLaren are making progress as Alonso's 11th placed finish shows, but they also know they have a long way to go. Jenson Button completed just 17 laps all weekend and didn't even participate in qualifying or the race. I know the team are suffering problems and it's a building process with Honda but that is unacceptable, they're not Manor Marussia, they're a world championship winning team, they should be doing better.

Renault too need to up their game as Ricciardo crossed the line with smoke billowing from the rear of the car. It means it's pretty certain Ricciardo will have to suffer a penalty for using more units than is allowed. However, Renault promise upgrades, and Red Bull are bringing lots of new bits to the car for Spain, so lets hope to see them up near the top soon. 

Bernie Ecclestone was speaking to the BBC where he admitted he had not much time for Manor, the sport was too expensive but he knew what needed to be done. He also said he'd step away from the sport if that's what meant Audi would enter. It's said VW-Audi board chairman Ferdinand Piech has such disdain for Bernie he won't let any of their brands compete while he is involved in Formula 1. 

Over the weekend he also commented that we might lose the Italian Grand Prix and was again advocating a return to the redundant V8 engines. To me the only sensible thing he said was he'd leave if it meant Audi would enter the sport. Otherwise he again just comes across as out of touch. I don't think he has the power to do what he wants anymore, a lot of that is to do with CVC, the private equity firm Ecclestone himself sold the commercial rights to. He did a lot to build up the sport, but it's in an unfit state now. Time for someone to come in with a giant broom.

The title chase

Is there a title chase? I'm not so sure, at the moment there is definitely a title parade as current world champion Lewis Hamilton demonstrates his brilliance to the world. 

Rosberg may lie second in the points but he is already 27 points behind and hasn't beaten Hamilton all year and not really looked like coming close to it either.

One point further back is Sebastian Vettel who didn't have a great race, but if you were going to pick someone to give Lewis a run for his money, you'd go with the Ferrari driver. Even he though might have to share out the big points on occasion as Kimi Raikkonen continues to rediscover his mojo. 

Ferrari are not far behind, but although Kimi has promised there's more to come, it won't be as if Mercedes are standing still. They do still have an edge despite the Scuderia's step up this year.

As we are only on the fourth race of the season it is quite legitimate to say we still have a fight on our hands, but for how much longer will we have to pretend that is the case? One of Rosberg, Vettel or Kimi need to show Lewis they are a proper contender, starting at the next race and preferably by all three if this isn't going to turn into a cruise as Hamilton seeks his third title.

Result

1. Hamilton - Mercedes
2. Raikkonen - Ferrari
3. Rosberg - Mercedes
4. Bottas - Williams
5. Vettel - Ferrari
6. Ricciardo - Red Bull
7. Grosjean - Lotus
8. Perez - Force India
9. Kvyat - Red Bull
10. Massa - Williams
11. Alonso - McLaren
12. Nasr - Sauber
13. Hulkenberg - Force India
14. Ericsson - Sauber
15. Maldonado - Lotus
16. Stevens - Marussia
17. Merhi - Marussia
R. Verstappen - Toro Rosso
R. Sainz - Toro Rosso
DNS. Button - McLaren

all photo's taken from autosport.com