Button's last-gasp dash to victory

What a sensational race! When I sat down at 5pm to watch the BBC coverage I didn’t think I’d still be sitting there five hours later having witnessed one of the most epic races this season. It contained a two hour stoppage for rain, five safety cars, too many incidents and clashes to mention and some quite supreme driving skill from the best drivers on earth. We even got a spot of bird watching from the BBC commentators as they waited for the restart.

All of the races so far this year have been exciting, but this was something else, and it gave us our second non Sebastian Vettel victory. Jenson Button was simply in outstanding form.

I don’t think there has been another race where the winner has made six pit stops, been given a drive through penalty, dropped to last place, charged back through the field more than once and yet still come out on top on the very last lap of the race. Many others can claim to have had the same amount of drama today, but only one can say they came through to win.

After the last safety car period there were only 10 laps to go. He had been gaining two seconds a lap over the fight for second place between Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber. Button latched on to the back. Nose to tail for five laps, each trying to use every inch of the dry line, Webber finally made his move on Schumacher but overdid it and went over the final chicane on to the start finish straight.

Taking to the wet part of the track Button raced around the outside, taking third, he was soon on to the gearbox of the silver Mercedes. Schumacher was struggling in more normal dry conditions. He’d pushed his car to the edge every lap and in the wet had looked every inch the master he once was. In the dry he was no match, and as they surged on to the back straight Button activated his DRS and was easily through with 4 laps to go.

Jenson was driving out of his skin. He’d already survived a clash with his McLaren team mate Lewis Hamilton, and had bit of rough and tumble with Fernando Alonso, but he knew he could catch Vettel. He began reeling him in, Vettel tried to respond but he couldn’t. Into lap 70 Button was less than a second behind and still catching.

Vettel has been mighty under pressure so far this year. In Spain and in Monaco he has fended off sustained pressure and never looked like cracking. But today he led practically every lap but not the final one.

Approaching turn six he got on to the wet bit of track and slid. The car half turned and that was all Button needed. He greeted his jubilant mechanics with that wide eyed victory stare he has, eyes bulging, and adrenaline no-doubt still pumping. It was a brilliant drive and he took what was certainly one of the best victories of his career.

Jenson’s race was only one of a number of outstanding performances. Vettel drove brilliantly for the majority of it, only succumbing at the very end. He looked pretty annoyed with himself, but he can be consoled by his increased championship lead and second still being his worst result of the year.

Webber had a number of setbacks yet still managed to finish third. Being knocked off on the first proper racing lap by Lewis Hamilton didn’t help and he was one of a number of drivers who changed too early for intermediate tyres in the first part of the race. Yet he battled back to snatch third from Schumacher in the dying moments of the race.

However, I think along with a number of people, it was almost a shame he did. For today in Canada, Schumacher showed us what he is still capable of. He had his drama’s today too including being one of the drivers to change for intermediates a lap before heavy rain came which stopped the race on lap 25 leaving him 12^th.

He’d already had a hard battle with Lewis Hamilton and made an opportunistic move on Button, but two hours later when the race resumed he showed us what we’d been missing. As soon as the safety car came in eight laps after the restart, he was in for intermediates again and scythed through the field utilising turn 6 as his passing spot and was straight after Kobayashi and Massa who were battling for second and third.

As Massa failed to make a move stick, they were both offline and Schumacher swept past them into second down to the hairpin and he began to close on Vettel before the safety car came out again for Nick Heidfeld’s accident on lap 57. By then he'd changed to dry tyres, the track having dried significantly and his car was no longer up to the job as Button and Webber swept passed.

Still, fourth was a great result even if he commented after “I am leaving this race with one eye laughing and one eye crying, as I am not sure if I should be excited or sad about it." He deserved a podium, but it was nice he got a result after the flashes of speed he has shown this year.  

Other notable results included Vitaly Petrov in fifth place and Kamui Kobayashi in seventh who’d battled near the front for a long time before dropping back after stopping too late for dry tyres. Jaime Algersuari finished eighth, he’d started from the pit lane but impressed by staying on the track while others got involved in incidents.

However, while others have great results others are noticeable by their lack of them. Ferrari had opportunity to show well but for various reasons were unable to perform. Alonso was unfortunate to tangle with Button and beach his car on the kerb resulting in the fourth safety car period, but he hadn’t really shown that much speed up to that point.

Felipe Massa was impressive, for a long time battling in the top 3. However when he changed to dry tyres, he got on to the wet part of the track passing a Hispania car and wrecked his nose resulting in an extra trip to the pits. He did manage to pass Kobayashi on the line to take sixth but it could have been so much more.

Paul Di Resta in the Force India raced in the top 6 for a long time but knocking his nose against Nick Heidfeld at the final chicane ruined a good chance. It finally ended for him when he crashed at turn nine two laps from the end.

Lewis Hamilton is someone who loves these conditions and no doubt would have excelled. Therefore it was rather unfortunate that for the second successive race he was involved in a number of collisions. But unlike in Monaco he was blameless in both.

At the first start Hamilton dived to the inside of Webber into turn one. He was given room, but as Lewis went over the kerb, the car skated and clattered into the back of Webber, spinning the Red Bull round, but it was no more than a racing incident.

His second clash of the day was with his team mate Button. Button was struggling in the early wet part of the race. Hamilton had ended up behind him after running wide at the hairpin but coming on to lap 7 he was tucked up and moved to the outside on the start finishing straight.

Button looked in his mirror but the sprayed masked his team mate and he kept to the normal line and knocked Hamilton’s right front wheel resulting in his car bouncing into the pit wall. Jenson has since apologised, but it ruined the other McLaren’s race.

The only slight disappointment was the original start behind the safety car, and then once the race was stopped how long they stayed behind it when it was restarted. It seemed a slight case of being over cautious when races in the past have been started in far worse conditions, but I guess these are the times we live in. Having said that, it was definitely right that the race should have been stopped when it was.

However, it didn’t stop Jenson and as a drive through penalty was handed to him for speeding behind the safety car and other incidents delayed him, he carried on charging to take one of the best last gasp victories we’ve seen in years. Watch the highlights here, they’re more than worth it.

Bahrain returns as 21 race calendar set for 2012

A couple of important things happened today in the world of Formula 1. First of all Bahrain has been reinstated on to the calendar after its original March date was cancelled due to civil unrest.A state of emergency was lifted on Wednesday and the FIA have seen fit to grant them their place back on October 30th.

According to the BBC website this is despite police check points and Saudi Arabian troops remaining in place. Some opposition activists are still being detained with no trial forthcoming. 

Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights believes 'it's a very sad moment. It seems that their [Formula 1 Organisers] benefit and their interest has more importance than the human rights of people in this part of the region. It's very upsetting, and the people are very upset.'

Former president of the FIA Max Moseley told ESPN it would be a 'public-relations disaster...The grand prix will be used to paint a picture of Bahrain that will be false.They will be attempting to use the grand prix to support what they are doing, almost using Formula One as an instrument of repression.' 

Although three time Formula 1 World Champion Jackie Stewart says 'I'm pleased. Sport is a very good equaliser in the case of unrest, because sport somehow unifies people. An F1 race going there hopefully might help to do that.'

Another angle is the logistics for the teams. They don't want to go, some for moralistic reasons, others because it has meant the season will be extended. The October 30th date was originally scheduled to be for the Indian Grand Prix. However this will now be moved back to either December 4th or 11th. Ross Brawn, the Mercedes team boss told Autosport it is 'totally unacceptable'.

'It is getting too much. Our guys have been working since January, we don't have test teams anymore, so the same guys have been working since January and we are asking them to work into December and that means there is no time for a holiday before Christmas and that would mean getting straight back in to it in January. So personally I think it is unacceptable and we've told Bernie that and he knows our opinion.'

The FIA have said this decision is not for money reasons, although after examing all the other reasons against reinstatement, it does seem the only real reason to add Bahrain back is that it means Formula 1 will receive the race fee that each country pays Formula 1 for hosting the race. As Max Mosley says sponsors may 'want their liveries removed' rather than be associated with the event.

Sport and politics don't mix, and Formula 1 should have no opinion on what goes on there other than to promote the sport and companies involved, but is Bahrain using the Grand Prix to prove to the world that everything is back to normal? It all seems a bit unwise and distasteful in the current situation. Added to this is the impact on fans who may have already booked for the Indian Grand Prix and arranged hotels and travel.

All in all it might have been better to wait for the 2012 season. Having said all this, no one makes much of a noise about the continuing human rights cases in China, and this race has been established since 2004.

Also announced today is a 21 race calendar for the 2012 season. I'm of the opinion that you can have too much of a good thing. 20 races should be the limit to a season as any more may result in over-exposure. I believe that this will result in people not treating each race as an event, but that you'll just as easily be able to catch a race in a week or so. 

Perhaps the FIA could look into alternating races on a year by year basis, much like the World Rally Championship has done in the past. It seems odd to increase the work load of the teams while also insisting that they reduce costs.Money talks.

Senna

I was lucky enough to see the Senna film a few weeks ago in a rather plush cinema in Hampstead. Watching his life unfold it reminded me of my first Grand Prix. It’s not often you get to see your heroes at their very best, especially one as gifted as Ayrton Senna, but this is something I’ll appreciate forever.

I was 10 years old in 1993 and I remember sitting in my Grandpa’s living room in Leeds watching qualifying for the European Grand Prix at Donnington. I was looking forward to the race, all weather reports indicated it was going to be a wet race which increased my excitement. My favourite driver was great in the wet, Ayrton Senna was absolutely awesome in the wet.

So you can imagine my disappointment when I was told I wouldn’t be able to watch it. Apparently we were going to be out for the race. If memory recalls correctly I was probably about to complain and ask if I could stay home until my Dad took out an envelope. Inside were tickets to the race, I found it very hard to utter a word for a while after.

On a cold damp April morning, having hardly slept we arrived at Donnington just as the morning warm up commenced. I raced down to the side of the track on a little straight just past the Craner Curves, it was only half an hour, but it was immense. I hadn’t appreciated just how loud and fast these cars were in real life.

There are many articles that document this race. All I remember is staying in exactly the same spot through the entire Grand Prix. The rest of my family had a wonder around the track but I didn’t want to miss a lap. At the start they flashed by in an instant, but I’d spotted the bright yellow crash helmet of Senna and he was already making the moves that history would say was one of the greatest opening laps of all time.

Through rain, sun, four pit stops no one could live him, not his greatest Formula 1 rival Alain Prost, not Michael Schumacher who at the time I thought would surely be Senna’s next challenge. He literally disappeared in to the distance, and I stared intently not wishing to miss a moment. On his victory lap he waved to the crowd, I waved back as he slowly drove past, obviously elated. I couldn’t believe my first race and my favourite driver had won. I was already asking my Dad if we could go to the British Grand Prix in 1994 to see him again.

This is how I’ll remember Senna. For all his faults, he had a natural gift that he pushed to the limit, sometimes beyond. His drive and passion as a racing driver is what I’ll remember.  Not his death, not his crashes with Prost, but when I was 10, I saw him lap after lap, the yellow crash helmet appearing through the spray, driving with skill no one else could match. To paraphrase Senna, to me if felt like ‘pure racing’. Like the film, it was beautiful to watch.

If you were a fan, or if you never witnessed him racing at the time, I urge you to go and see the film. It’s not just a racing film, but about a person who appreciated life and made the most of what he made come his way. It’s about the life of one of the best sportsmen, one of the greatest most driven people the world has ever seen.