May 2010 Archives

Who's fault was the clash of the Red Bulls? Well I disagree with Helmut Marko on this one, for I feel Mark Webber gave Sebastian Vettel enough space - not a lot, but enough - and Vettel just drifted wide too early. Seb can't expect Mark to just move over. They're both fighting for this championship, and it's basic racing tactics that Mark will want to leave Seb on the dirty side, and with the tightest possible turn-in angle.

Fans don't want to see team orders, but RBR would have done better to "control" their drivers. That means either tell Vettel to turn the engine down when Mark was instructed to, or tell Mark "Seb's got a run on you - give him space."

Red Bull now stand accused of favouring Vettel, though as it is there's little evidence of that. It's no secret that Vettel is treated as a messiah by Fuschl (Red Bull's Austrian HQ), and Marko's controversial opinions do little to dismiss that, but I see no sign there's anything other than equality at Milton Keynes, despite Mark's cryptic comment that we journalists need to "dig a little deeper."

The crash was actually rather fortuitous for Mark. Okay, he was on course to win - at least until Vettel attacked - but instead of pulling out a seven point lead over Vettel, (assuming, of course, Webber had led the pair across the line to victory), he now enjoys a 15 point lead over his team mate and is still leading overall by five points (Button is now second).

At the end of the year, Turkey could result in Webber winning the title. A colleague did joke with me that Webber is like The Black Knight in Monty Python's Holy Grail. "But I've had your wing off..." "It's just a flesh wound". Certainly, coming back from a contact like that to collect third place shows a never-say-die attitude.

This has really shaken up RBR, who were looking unbeatable, and it could make them fragile. This will be very interesting. If inner-team rivalry can destroy old hands like McLaren (see 2007) just think what it could do to a team that's just five seasons old. Christian Horner will need to summon all of his management skills to navigate these choppy waters. Despite what he says about it all being resolved before Canada, I think Turkey will play on both drivers' minds for as long as they're under the same roof.

Team mates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel were left blaming the other as they watched McLaren score a one-two at the Turkish Grand Prix.

Red Bull Racing were in a commanding position when, on lap 40, Vettel made a move on Webber. Mark held his line, in no mood to make life easy for the 22 year-old, but didn't anticipate what happened next. Vettel darted to the right before he was past, ramming his sidepod into the Aussie's left-front wheel. Vettel's car flapped like a fish as it ripped of its front wing and punctured its right-rear tyre against the identical RB6.

Seb was pitched into an anti-clockwise spin and into retirement. He sprang angrily from the cockpit and made the international sign for 'crazy'.


"That's the adrenalin flowing," explained Mark who left the blame for the accident firmly with Seb. "I wanted to make his line as tight as possible and I wasn't at all expecting that [Seb would move right]. It was a f***ing disaster. Not good for the team at all."

Reporters crowded around the Red Bull motorhome trying to grab a soundbite from Seb. One Fleet Street scribe was strong-armed out of the way by a mechanic, as Vettel steamed by uttering nothing.

Has the relationship between Mark and Seb soured? "We have to manage it," said boss Christian Horner, who revealed Vettel had not apologized to the team. "They were both at fault - they should have given each other the room. I don't see two McLaren's in the fence."

Yes, seven laps after that clash there was nearly another. As light spots of rain fell, Jenson Button attempted to pass Lewis Hamilton for the lead at exactly the same corner, racing wheel-to-wheel through Turns 12-14. The reigning champion got through, but then Hamilton stole back the position at the next corner. Lewis' girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger turned from the TV and covered her eyes. The two lightly touched wheels, then settled down to achieve a perfect score.

Unlike Vettel, whose car was going nowhere, Webber just needed a nose change and crossed the line in third. He remains championship leader, with Button just five points behind.

McLaren were right on Red Bull's pace today, Hamilton having been right on Webber's tail until a slow stop pushed him back to third, with Jenson just behind. Then came their unexpected promotion. Button said over the radio: "We pushed them and they cracked. Brilliant."


It was Lewis' first win of the year. He was afforded an armchair view of the Red Bull accident when it happened. "It was great to watch. It was like watching an action movie in HD," he joked.

As to what prompted the speed differential between the Red Bulls at that fateful moment, conspiracies are beginning to build. Had Mark made a mistake? "You guys need to dig more, somewhere else," he hinted to the throng of reporters. "They were both pushing, and they both had the same engine maps. Mark was struggling a little on the prime [tyre]," Christian Horner insisted, but there remain accusations that Webber was instructed to turn his revs down just before Vettel made the move.

Istanbul Park, as I reported last year, attracts very few spectators or corporate guests yet it has one of the biggest paddocks, and as such it always feels like one's turned up to a party too early. It's also pretty quiet this weekend - no scandals. Only the looming decision on tyres and the fact Nick Shorrock from Michelin is here for a last minute arm twist, to keep reporters occupied.

Because it's been quiet, I've actually managed to get a lot done, including lengthy interviews with Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen and Bruno Senna. I'll post these Q&As, or at least excerpts, here next week.

Qualifying saw Mark Webber continue his stunning form to take pole, but he was lucky as Lewis Hamilton was actually looking faster until yellow flags appeared and the McLaren driver had to back off. Third was Sebastian Vettel, who suffered a big lock up and this was traced to a roll bar linkage failure. He locked because the car had rolled and his wheel was stuck up in the air. Seb has a new chassis this weekend, having found a fracture in 'Luscious Liz' which was costing performance. So she's been dumped in favour of Randy Mandy. Surely a line of official inflatable dolls should be produced urgently by Fuschl's marketing department.

There were heads being scratched down at Ferrari, as Alonso's lack of speed was a mystery. He's 12th.

I was out with the Ferrari gang last night, celebrating the Scuderia's 800th grand prix at a mansion on the Bosphorus. It was a bit of a schlep to get there and I think that's why I was one of only a few F1 personnel there. Just a tiny handful of media, Felipe, Fernando, a few team brass and Turkish guests. No former drivers, not other team bosses and, interestingly, no Bernie. When you think how much money Ferrari has spend in six decades, that's a surprise.

I arrived at the same time as Felipe and Fernando, who had helicoptered in from the circuit. I followed them into the mansion, up some stairs and into a room thinking we were heading to the party and suddenly found myself in a small but grand office, with them and assorted Ferrari brass - I was the only person not wearing red. Whoops, I said, waved to Stefano Domenicalli and melted out of the room - the party was, in fact, outside in the garden.



I'm staying at the same hotel as Ferrari, out near the circuit, so they were kind enough to give me a lift back.

When I got home I found Will Buxton getting awfully excited about Eurovision. Four races on TV and he's already turned into Terry Wogan. My Twitter wall was full of messages about the song contest - from Heikki Kovalainen, Karun Chandhok and others. It seemed many personnel were spread across Istanbul watching the show from their hotel rooms.

Apparently Spain got to do their song twice because someone interrupted their performance the first time. I bet Fernando Alonso wishes he got a second chance too.

Getting to and from the city from where we are is a right ball-ache because of the traffic, so it's not been to riveting nightlife-wise. On Thursday Sauber invited the British press to dinner in their motorhome, which was nice, and early that night Virgin had us over to play a 'currency race' game to promote their sponsor, Forex trading company FXPro.



The idea was that we each selected a currency trade and then saw our car race around a track, its performance dictated by the currency information being fed live into the computer by the markets.

I bought sterling against the dollar. Mistake.

The winner was The Times sports correspondent Ron Lewis, who's filling in for Kevin Eason (who's covering the world cup) this weekend. He took home a 1,000 Euro novelty cheque. If he knows as much about F1 as the money markets  he should hit the ground running this weekend.

Now then, my prediction for today (hopefully better than my currency speculation):

1. Hamilton
Second and third will be dependent on Red Bull reliability. With an engine gone and a roll bar failure, reliability seems to be hampering them again...
 

I flew to Istanbul from Los Angeles, where I've been working on a film project. I had to take three different planes to get here and made my final connection in Zurich. There, I bumped into Speed Week's editor Matthias Brunner. I had taken a couple of sleeping pills on the Washington DC - Zurich leg and was very very drowsy, so when Mattias said "Have you heard about the grand prix in Austin? Is it true?" I thought I was hearing things...

After all being quiet on the US front for a number of years, rumours of an imminent return fired up in Australia. Bernie wants to go back to the US, they said, and he wants the race to be in New York.

A race in Jersey City was announced and then canned within 24hrs. That was three weeks ago. The concept sounded pretty good - it would have brought a bit of glamour to the much-derided Garden State and the circuit would have had Manhattan's skyline in the background, which would add a bit of glamour to F1 too.

But no, the mayor responded to a bit of environmental pressure and canned it. So then Bernie was said to be looking at the Catskills. Somewhere called the Monticello Motor Club, based at a little track 70km from NYC. Doesn't sound ideal, but it does sound pretty.

And then on Tuesday night, completely out of left field, Austin has thrown its hat in the ring along with official confirmation from Bernie and the blessing of Texas governor Rick Perry.

First up, I used to live in Austin and I can tell you the F1 circus is going to love the city. It's brilliant for bars, live music and Mexican food. Culturally it's a melting pot. It's the one blue dot on the red map, as rednecks are outnumbered by hippies, latinos, students and the tech crowd - largely from the coasts - who come to work for Dell and AMD, who have big manufacturing plants and offices there.

I was there because I was doing F1 sponsorship for AMD at the time, and I did daydream about what it would be like if F1 were to race there. Very few people that I ran into in Texas knew anything about the sport.

In principle, I'm in favour of it as a venue, though I still think Las Vegas, New York City, Long Beach or South Beach would be better suited. Austin won't have the halo effect the other venues could have offered, but there should be a decent A-list presence. Austin is home to a growing film industry. Robert Rodriguez has a fantastic studio in the nothern part of town, and a number of movie stars have homes there.

But there's a lot of cynicism as to whether this is going to happen. Is Tavo Hellmund, the 39 year-old former racer with 14 NASCAR starts to his name, going to be another Simon Gillett?

Where's the money coming from? Not from the taxpayer, that's for sure. Hellmund's company, Full Throttle Productions, has yet to purchase land on which this permanent circuit will be built. Apparently they are looking at three sites. There's a lot of undeveloped land near the airport, to the east of the city, which would be suitable.

Announcing the race before the land has been bought is likely to increase the land costs.

2012 is not far away. Is this going to happen? I wouldn't put money on it, no. I hope I'm wrong as everyone wants the USGP back on the calendar. Another let-down Stateside - first Indianapolis 2005, then USF1 - is going to make it all the harder to revive and win over the audience over there.

Anyway, back to my trip to LA. The highlights were:

When three police cars showed up and threatened to arrest my friend Jules for weeing in an alley.

Drinks at the Formosa Cafe. The place is famous firstly for its celebrity clientele (Bogart, Gable and Sinatra were all regulars) and secondly for how bad the Chinese food is.

Flying to Catalina Island for a buffalo burger, and then flying straight back. The trip is known as 'the $200 burger'. And yes, that is me flying.

I had to stifle a laugh when BBC Radio producer Jason Swales returned to the pits with his front wing hanging off. In the history of the Formula BMW Racing Centre, down here at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo, no one has ever crashed before. That's what our instructors told us before we went out. It was reassuring. But five minutes in - literally just five! - someone's had to send for a new nose and a dustpan and brush.

Jason is the most experienced racer in our group of amateurs, having raced Ginettas. He's even brought his own helmet. This is VERY funny.

But I try not to smile because this is a serious day for me - a fantastic opportunity to get to grips with a 140mph single seater. The guests include a couple of us F1 regulars, some lifestyle journalists, competition winners, a celebrity surfer and a German actor. As a result of this hodge-podge, Jason and I get stuck in more traffic than a pitlane-starting Alonso in Monaco. Maybe that's why Jason got frustrated and decided to launch himself at the pitwall.

In one garage are racks of helmets, race suits, boots and fireproofs. The instructors have to wear many hats - driver, teacher and tailor. Once sorted with this kit, we get a seat fitting in the main garage and are taken through the controls. Mine was to be the Number 5 car - the same number that would take Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill to their championships. As luck would have it, Ann Bradshaw, who was press officer at Williams back in those glory days, is our chaperone today.


The cars aren't terribly comfortable. You quickly get a numb bum because you're essentially sitting on the floor. The wheel is so close that when you take a tight corner, you're liable to bruise your elbows. You can't move your head back at all - your chin is practically resting on your chest. The straps are so tight you can barely draw breath. The controls are simple: three pedals, an up-down gear-shift on the right, and the power and starter switches on the dash.  

After some theory in the classroom above the pit, it's time to fire up. Pulling away is really easy. A few revs, clutch out and you're off. That didn't stop one chap completely knackering his transmission. It sounded like a ban saw picking a fight with a dentists' drill.



The first exercise is to get used to up-shifting and down-shifting. We do this by driving the wrong way down the pitlane, turning around a cone, and then coming up the pit straight flat-out before re-entering the pit. You can up-shift without the clutch but you need to yank the little metal leaver hard. To down-shift, it's satisfying to punch the stick Karate Kid-style and blip the throttle as the gear engages.



This isn't really a braking test, but Jason wants to feel the full force of the stopping power anyway, which is when he locks his rears and taps the pitwall. Red flag, red face.

That was just the warm up. Next we follow the instructor around the circuit to learn the racing lines and gearing, before more classroom tutorial. We won't get a sense of the braking points until we get let off the leash.

When we do, it's a total adrenalin rush. I push harder to ignore the instructor's advice and take Turn 1 in fifth gear. No problems. At first, the steering feels quite distant compared to a go-kart but as you get used to the adhesion, you learn to feel the molecules of tyre grip by the seat of your pants.



The steering is very heavy in the slow stuff, which is what Ricardo Tormo is wholly comprised of, bar Turn 1, but I would love to try this car around a circuit like Silverstone where you can really feel the benefit of these wings. As it is, though, the Formula BMW is totally planted and on the few occasions I got the back end out (my chum Greg offered £1 for each time I did so - Greg, you owe me a fiver) it either settled by itself or was pretty easy to correct.

Carlos Sainz Junior is down here in Valencia, looking on and giving us tips ahead of his first Europe-series race weekend in Barcelona (he would impress with a podium on that debut). After a day in the car, we were left yearning for that next step - to drive one in anger, wheel-to-wheel. Desperately wanting to race a 15 year old seems somewhat unhealthy on a number of levels, but every one of us had a look of envy on our faces as we waved goodbye and let Carlos go back to his training.

Mark Webber made a 25 metre high dive into Monaco's harbour after winning the race every driver wants to win. It was, he said, "the greatest day of my life."

He won the 78 lap race - considered the biggest challenge in motor sport, for the barrier lined street circuit leaves no margin for error - from pole position, and didn't let four safety car periods interrupt his rhythm.

His secret, he said, was a good night's sleep. Mark won in Monaco in F3000 in 2001, also from pole: "I was sharing a room with [my partner] Ann, my dad and a few other friends because we didn't have any money, and we were staying in an old brothel. I didn't sleep a wink the night before the race because my dad snores like a chainsaw. I ended up flipping his mattress over to get him to stop. But last night, I slept like a baby."

Michael Douglas, Paris Hilton, Jennifer Lopez and Mick Jagger were down on the grid, soaking up the atmosphere of F1's most glamorous race.

At the start, Webber held position into Turn 1 while P2 man Robert Kubica spun his wheels and allowed Sebastian Vettel to squeeze up the inside.

The safety car made its first appearance that lap, when Nico Hulkenberg took too wide a line through the tunnel and slammed into the wall, tearing off the entire port side of his Williams. Thirty laps later, his team mate Rubens Barrichello did the same when he suffered a puncture. On lap 43, it was time for FIA driver Bernd Maylander's third appearance when a drain cover came unstuck.

Each time, the gap Webber had opened over Vettel was cut. It was, he said, "massively frustrating", given the Australian's dominant pace of an average 0.5 seconds over his Red Bull team mate.

Positions stayed fixed at the front throughout, but there was some swashbuckling action from Fernando Alonso towards the back of the field, as he had missed out on qualifying due to a practice crash and started from the pitlane. Each time he picked off slower cars at the chicane, it was do or die.

The final act came three laps from the end, when backmarkers Jarno Trulli tried an audacious move down the inside of Karun Chandhok, through the tight Rascasse. Webber was right behind them: "I thought 'what the hell is going to happen here'". Trulli's Lotus went over the top of the Chandhok's HRT, grazing the Indian's helmet. "I just hoped I had some room to get around and that we could finish the race behind the safety car," said Mark.

The safety car came in on the final lap, leaving the drivers to race across the finish line. On receiving his trophy from Prince Albert, Webber spoke of his pride: "I'm absolutely elated. To join Ayrton Senna, Jack Brabham and those boys in the history books... This is a special day for me."

Webber and Vettel now share the championship points lead with 78, Webber having taken two wins to Vettel's one. He is therefore ahead in the event of a tie. Red Bull Racing head the constructors' championship for the first time in their six year history.

Thursday night at the Monaco Grand Prix is always special, as it's the designated party night. Things got started at the elegant Hermitage Hotel where Total and GH Mumm hosted a drinks bash to celebrate Formula One's 60th birthday.



I was, I admit, somewhat overdressed for the occasion as I had a special dinner organized for afterwards and arrived in black tie. It took about five seconds for the BBC's David Croft to make a waiter reference.

The dinner was the prize for winning last week's Bridgestone F1 media kart race, and the tyre company rewarded our team - Will Buxton of Speed TV, Johnathan Noble and Tony Dodgins of Autosport, and I - with the Menu Decouverte at the 2** Joel Robuchon restaurant at the Hotel Metropole.



The menu was as follows:


The wine was also out of this world.

After that very fine meal it was time to mix it all up on the dance floor on Vijay Mallya's boat, the Indian Empress. It was the party to be at - everyone was there.

The next morning I had to leave Monaco to go to my friends Sabrina and Shaun's wedding in Paris. And then it was up at the crack of dawn this morning to get a flight back to the Cote d'Azur, and then a train, and then another train, before I got to the paddock in time for lunch chez Ferrari and then qualifying.



Spotted a billboard at the airport which perked me up. My mate James and I have set up a creative agency, Realise Creative, and we've designed this year's F1 advertising campaign for Total. First time I'd actually seen it in situ. Looks cool, I think. As you can see, we plonked a petrol station down at the Nouveau Chicane. Great to see that the Renault featured is so quick around here this weekend.

First thing I heard when I got to the track, apart from that Fernando Alonso would sit out qualifying, was that Heikki Kovalainen was the star of last night's Amber Fashion show and charity auction. There was no lot - the auctioneer just asked someone to donate 300,000 Euros and if someone did so, Elton John himself would double it. This was in aid of Sir Elton's aids foundation. The auctioneer didn't recognise Heikki when he stuck his hand up. Incredibly generous, the Finn's cash will buy 320 houses for HIV sufferers in Cambodia.



Eddie Irvine no longer owns the most houses, that I know of.

I'm pretty shattered this afternoon. Red Bull are throwing a party tonight but I might have a quiet one - unheard of for me!

Mark Webber will start the Monaco Grand Prix in pole position after a thrilling final lap that made him the only driver to post a time in the 1:13s. He described the lap as "a blur".

He starts ahead of Robert Kubica, who has looked sublime all day, throwing the Renault over the kerbs like a go-kart. A fantastic result for Renault. It really did look like the pole would snatch pole. "I was very surprised by our pace in free practice and in qualifying. When a car is 1.5 seconds faster than you in Barcelona you don't expect to qualify ahead of them," said BobKub.

Vettel lines up third (making it three Renault-powered cars in the top three) and didn't look too chuffed about it. He lost the back end coming down to the chicane on his last flyer and had to miss the corner.

Red Bull Racing have been on pole every race this season, and it's now split 3-3 to Webber and Vettel. "It's a big thing for us to get pole here, given we haven't had a great record in Monaco in the past," said Mark.

If you want proof the economy is in recovery, come to Monaco. Last year there were plenty of mooring spots left empty, this year the harbour is more packed. There are some truly stunning boats here.

The most beautiful is the 88m Maltese Falcon (great name for a boat) which is the largest clipper of its kind. It's owned by hedge-fund manager Elena Ambrosiadou, who paid a reported $120 million for it last year, and rumour has it that Jennifer Aniston is among her 12 guests on board this weekend.

The Maltese Falcon can be chartered for 375,000 Euros a week. Could be worse!

Another eye-catching yacht is the 42m Baglietto owned by Roberto Cavalli. It's painted in iridescent purple and green. Yesterday I went along to the opening of the Mercedes' motorhome (minimalism, lovely terrace...) which affords fab views across the harbour. Here I accepted a rather silly 10 Euro bet with a friend that, before the weekend is out, I will get photographed on Cavalli's boat with a bird.



Speaking of boats, I did do my utmost to get here on one. The ash cloud canceled a lot of flights out of Barcelona on Sunday and, though I was scheduled to fly Monday,  I didn't want to get caught out and asked my chum Sid Mallya if I could be a stowaway on the Indian Empress, which was to make the voyage to Monaco on Sunday night. He said there was no room. Is he having a laugh? Maybe I was pushing my luck after the fine dinner I had round there on Friday. The Mallya's are having their traditional Monaco party tonight - always a highlight of the year. I'll take some snaps for you.

My flight from Barcelona took off without a hitch and I had one night in Paris before getting the train down on to Monaco Tuesday. Monaco always starts a day early because practice is on Thursday, not Friday. So there wasn't any down time whatsoever.

I learned last year (and every year come to mention it) that it's best to ease into the party scene here, taking it easy for the first few nights. I've been pretty good about that for the last two, but tonight will be a big one. Tomorrow my friends at TW Steel are planning a fantastic party aboard the 42m yacht Element, but sadly I have to miss it because I'm going back up to Paris for the night to attend a friend's wedding.

I said to her "Don't get married on a grand prix weekend" and she goes and gets married on THE grand prix weekend!

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have been presented with diamond-encrusted steering wheels. Will it help them go faster? No, of course not, but we're in Monaco for Formula One's blue ribband event, and a bit of cockpit bling just feels right.

In addition, Formula One celebrates its 60th birthday this week, and many teams and sponsors are throwing glamorous parties to mark the occasion.

Just 48 hours ago, F1's circus was in Barcelona. Back-to-back races are always a logistical challenge, made worse here because the weekend starts a day early (free practice starts Thursday rather than the traditional Friday) and the paddock here is a very tight squeeze for all those enormous motorhomes.  

Red Bull manage to steal the show with their 'Energy Station' - so big it can't fit in the paddock and is floated on a pontoon in the harbour instead.

It's a tight squeeze everywhere, in fact, and the drivers are all concerned about qualifying traffic because of the larger grid this year - 24 cars as opposed to 20. A split qualifying system was discussed by the drivers a few days ago, but has now been rejected by the other teams. Those in less competitive cars can sometimes get lucky and leapfrog the front-runners at this race.

Getting a clean lap is going to be very difficult, and therefore we'll almost certainly see some big names bogged down at the back of the grid.

"It will be pretty mad in the dry, but in the wet pretty impossible to get a clear lap," says Button.

"Normally, if you're on a flying lap and you find traffic you want to back out of it and try and find space for the next lap but I think we've got to just keep hammering it around. I don't think we can back off. We've got to just try and stay on it, because that might be the quickest lap we do. A few of us will be angry at the end of Q1 and not happy but we've all got to deal with the same situation."

If that happens, their race will be a write-off because overtaking on the streets of Monte Carlo is almost impossible. Two cars cannot physically fit between the barriers in most places. If you get pole position here, it's your race to loose. Given Red Bull Racing have taken pole every race this year so far, you have to say they're the favourites. The RB6 gets its tyres up to temperature quicker than the opposition, and that works to their advantage in qualifying, and into the first corner. That, and downforce - which Red Bull have buckets of - are the recipes for success in the Principality.

But keep an eye out for Nico Rosberg. Mercedes have brought their short wheelbase car here, which suits Nico better than team mate Michael Schumacher. Nico finished sixth last year, but defied convention by pulling off a couple of thrilling passes.

And watch Force India's Adrian Sutil too, especially if it's wet. He was running fourth in 2008 - a fantastic achievement given the car - only to be punted off by an out-of-control Kimi Raikkonen. The German was in tears afterwards.

"I have unfinished business here," Sutil told me. "I think I can do something special this weekend."

Mark Webber threw his helmet into the crowd after his lights-to-flag victory at the Spanish Grand Prix. He's the fourth winner from five races.

It was a race largely free of overtaking, but with a spectacular finale when P2 man Lewis Hamilton suffered a left-front tyre deflation and sped into the barriers. That promoted homecoming hero Fernando Alonso into the runner-up slot. The Catalan crowd went into hysterics.

"When you gain two unexpected positions at the end of the race it's fantastic. It feels better than any overtaking manouvre," said Alonso.

They were selling blue Ferrari t-shirts at the track - the colour of Alonso's Asturias region.

Webber's Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel encountered a catalogue of misfortune, having started alongside Webber on the front row held his position. But in the pitstops, Lewis Hamilton got ahead, trading paint with the German through Turn 1. Meanwhile, Vettel's front wing flap was stuck and 15 laps from the end his brakes went, forcing him to back well off and, after an excursion into the gravel, pit for fresh rubber. The gap he had built ahead of Michael Schumacher meant Vettel could limp to the final podium spot.

"We're lucky for that, but a lot of things went wrong today," said Vettel, who had asked one of the young Formula BMW racers before the main event to lay a load of rubber down ahead of his grid box.

"The start could have been better, and then I struggled with balance. We lost time in the pits because we had to wait for a Ferrari to pass. The contact with Hamilton was unavoidable. Fifteen laps from the end, 'boof', the brakes went. I had to back right off. Each time I pressed the brake, the car pulled to the right."

Hamilton's crash two laps from the end was a gift for the drivers behind him. The deflation was eerily reminiscent of the violent accident Heikki Kovalainen suffered when he drove for McLaren here in 2008. I was sat with the Finn in Lotus' engineers office when Hamilton flew across the gravel trap. "That feels very familiar," he said.

Schumacher achieved his best result of the year, having held Jenson Button at bay throughout. He finished fourth, beating team mate Nico Rosberg for the first time this year. "The car is now more to my wishes," said the multiple champion.

But it was Webber's day. "This is a very special day for me, but I can't get too drunk tonight because we're driving again on Wednesday."

Indeed he will, because Monaco is next weekend. With Barcelona's airports shut due to volcanic ash, the drivers may have to race across the Pyrenees if they are to make it to Free Practice on time.

... this is going to be a Red Bull cakewalk.

Christian Horner told Mark Webber before he went out "enjoy this, because you won't drive a car this good around here that often."

Mark did enjoy it. He nailed pole, ahead of Vettel. They're almost a second clear of Lewis Hamilton. They are night and day.

The pole sitter has won here nine years straight, so Mark will be very unlucky if he doesn't win tomorrow. I think he will.

Interestingly, we've had three one-two finishes in the first four races. It's the first time in F1 history that's happened.

So, my prediction is Webber first, Vettel second and, in the hope of something spicy that will get the crowd going, Alonso third.

P.S Schumacher took sixth, beating Rosberg for the first time this year. Don't write him off.

For the past 13 years, Bridgestone has held an endurance karting event for the F1 press corps at a track close to the Circuit de Catalunya. As you can probably guess, there are many perks to this job (mostly involving open bars), but the annual media kart race is our most eagerly anticipated bun fight of the year.

It is EXTREMELY competitive, because every single one of us thinks, if only we'd had the money and the luck, we could have been F1 drivers too.

Last night's event was to be the last. And, having never won it in the six years I've been competing, I was determined to do so before Bridgestone pull out of the sport.

But it's not a solo effort, it's a team game, and therefore if you want to win you need to choose your team mates carefully. In the past, the podium had been ruled by former F1 drivers - ringers - who had been allowed to compete thanks to their (often tenuous) media roles.

Fortunately, Anthony Davidson is racing at Spa this weekend, David Coulthard's doing the Mille Miglia, Bas Leinders and David Kennedy no longer come to races, and Marc Surer and Christian Danner didn't show.

So that left the coast clear. Autosport's Johnny Noble and Tony Dodgins invited Will Buxton and I to join them. It was the dream team.

The top prize was a tasty one - dinner for the team at Joel Robuchon's restaurant at the Metropole hotel in Monte Carlo.

I was drafted in to qualify. I had one lap, and it put us fourth on the 15 kart grid. But there was a twist - a Le Mans-style running start. All those beers and pies have taken their toll and I dropped a place into turn one, but made it back within a couple of seconds. By the end of the first lap, I was in second and a second behind photographer Laurent Charniaux who brought his own helmet, so he must be good.

We had to swap drivers every ten minutes, and Laurent and I dived into the pits together. Noble was out next and quickly moved us ahead of the photographer's team. Once in front, we were gone... After 20 laps we were 14 seconds ahead of P2 and could already taste Robuchon's quail eggs.

There's always the danger of a botched stop, a penalty, mechanical problems or a crash, so we had our fingers crossed throughout. On my second stint I tried to pass two battling back makers who moved over and pitched me into a spin. But I recovered.

Will managed to pick a fight with FOM cameraman Jean-Michel Tibi, who was driving like an animal and put Buxton in the wall. Fortunately the kart's steering wasn't damaged. The pair, who work together, hugged each other afterwards which surprised me - because I thought Buxton was going to go for his neck (those who read my kart blog last year may recall, after an unfair penalty, Buxton smashed his helmet on the ground)

Further down the field the atmosphere was equally competitive, with BBC Five Live delighted to be ahead of BBC TV and the Italian team getting very animated during their disorganized pitstops.

I set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap, Kimi-style. We took the chequered flag 50 seconds ahead of the photographers.



I only brought one pair of trousers with me. Rookie error, because I still stink of champagne today.

We're looking forward to our dinner on Thursday. The irony is it's a 2 star 'Michelin' meal. But thanks ever so much to Bridgestone for this and for every year. We had an absolute hoot.

I am sleeping in a disco. Not because it's noisy or anything, but because there's a curtain of translucent light beads that snakes through the room and these can change colour. So I can set it to go red-blue-green-orange etc. Very cool.



Last night was Vijay Mallya's son's birthday. Sid's a good mate and invited me over for dinner on their boat, the magnificent Indian Empress. But, Vijay being the night owl he is, this didn't actually start till gone midnight.

For many, Spain is the first race of the season. A lot of personnel don't do the 'flyaways' and are all excited to be back. It's lovely to see them, but as this is Race 5 for the rest of us, our energy is waining.

I've had a series of late nights and early mornings this week, so this morning's 7am wake up call was a bit of a struggle. Speed TV reporter Will Buxton and I are, as usual, sharing a hire car this weekend and as he's doing GP3 commentary he wanted to be at the track for their quali session.

Staring down the barrel of an 80 Euro cab ride or unknown train and bus hassles I grudgingly got up but felt so knackered at the circuit (no, I wasn't hungover, I promise!) I begged a couple of friends to lend me their room key at the circuit Ibis. It's a ten minute walk from the paddock so I managed to squeeze in an extra two hours kip before F1 qualifying.

Well, this is Spain. That's how I'm justifying my siesta. Good job I don't have any interviews scheduled before this afternoon. I do feel much better now.

Ahead of qualifying, all anyone in the media centre was concerned with was getting from Barcelona to Monaco. The volcanic ash cloud has seen Spain's airports shut down today, and so everyone's preparing to make a plan B.

Many are looking into trains and busses. I think I've worked out a good one. The Indian Empress sails to Monaco after the race. I'll text Sid to see if there's a spare cabin. With that in mind, I'm keeping my fingers crossed the cloud stays overhead!

The first European race of the season, Barcelona sees the return of the mammoth F1 team motorhomes - including a few new ones.

Mercedes were always going to struggle to match what they had at McLaren. The new one won't debut till Monaco, so they've brought one from DTM. The exterior looks a bit like a radiator. Or a BBQ. Or a toastie machine. Some kind of cooking device, anyway... It looks small on the outside but actually the interior is cavernous (and dark, due to the tinted windows). Ok, basically it's like a badger's hole but with drilled aluminium plating.

I'll post a photo, but at the moment the blog upload thingy is on the blink.

Lotus and Hispania have split the old Super Aguri motorhomes between them, but the Lotus one is an "interim solution". Basically, they've prioritized the car over the motorhome. The real one will be ready for Valencia.

Renault have finally got a new motorhome - although it's not really new. It's the old Toyota one. But the old Renault home really was an antique. We used to joke it was older than Flavio's wife.

Keen to keep up with Red Bull and McLaren in the style-stakes, Virgin Racing have turned up with a two-storey 'home held together with exposed steel rigging - giving it the vibe of a backstage area.



The team's performances this year have been compromised by its car's fuel tank - it's too small. Timo Glock will race with an extended wheelbase this weekend, housing a bigger tank, but team mate Lucas di Grassi will have to make do with the old car and turn his revs down again. Virgin weren't able produce a second car, having been delayed in China due to the ash cloud.

Ironically, the glasses in the motorhome are too small to take an entire can of Coke. And we'll see if they have enough food to make it through the weekend.

Karun Chandhok is suffering from a stomach bug. Apparently team mate Bruno Senna has given him a new nickname.

"When I walk in the room he stands to attention and says 'Ladies and gentlemen, the King!' because I've spent so much time sitting on the throne," Karun told me this morning.

Testing is banned during the season, but it appears Mercedes has found a loophole.

On Tuesday this week the team took their new long wheelbase W01 to Rockingham, in the UK, to "record rights-free footage for sponsor Autonomy."

All teams do this, but usually at the start of the season. Autonomy, which is a software company, can then use this footage for commercial purposes.

Usually you'd have a test driver come and do this kind of work, but Mercedes brought Michael Schumacher.

It's not clear how fast Schumacher was driving. The team tell me they were limited to 100km.

But Michael was doing full laps of the track. So it amounts to more than a shakedown.

No doubt they recorded some interesting data, as well as film.

The Spanish fans are wearing Ferrari red, and waving Asturian blue flags. It's only Thursday, a day with no track action, but they're standing in the grandstand opposite Fernando Alonso's garage waving, trying to get their hero's attention.

Alonso can win this. It's been four years since he last took victory at home, but in this year's Ferrari he's got a car that can do the business.

He might not have been on the podium since winning the opening round in Bahrain, but his performances since have been just as impressive: Racing to fourth having spun at the start of the Australian GP; getting incredible pace from his car in Malaysia despite a gearbox that had a mind of its own; and finishing fourth again in China despite being penalized for a jump-start show the Spaniard is absolutely on it.

He politely followed his team mate home in Australia, but in China it was clear that the Massa-Alonso honeymoon is over. He jumped Felipe as the pair entered the pits. Massa later said he hit a puddle, and there are no problems between them. Sources at Ferrari, however, say Felipe was sleeping and was not at all happy when Alonso pinched his pitstop.

"Things between Felipe and me are fine," said Fernando this week. "If you're looking for trouble, look into Lewis and Jenson". The little tinker.

McLaren, particularly Jenson, have shown to be superb in the wet but still a little off Red Bull and Ferrari in the dry.

Mercedes have the fourth quickest car - at least with Nico Rosberg at the wheel. People are asking 'has Michael Schumacher lost it?'

Was Shanghai just a duff race? That happens, even to drivers at their peak. The jury is out, but if Schuey fails to shine in Spain, a verdict could be in.

The Mercedes-Benz W01 doesn't suit Schumacher. He likes cars 'pointy' - to oversteer in corners - whereas the Merc understeers. If it goes into a corner too fast, it wants to plow straight on. Drivers have different styles and tastes. This car was designed for Jenson Button, before the team were told he was taking the number '1' to McLaren.

In order to steer things more to the German's liking, Mercedes have built a longer wheelbase car that will debut in Barcelona. The team has denied it's throwing all its resources at Schu's side of the garage. It says the updated car will benefit both he and Rosberg.

I wrote at the start of the season that Michael would win again, but it would take until Europe before we saw him on the podium. Let's see. Shanghai was never his favourite track, but in Barcelona he has no excuses. He's won the Spanish Grand Prix a record six times. He's raced here 15 times. Only Rubens Barrichello can match him for laps.

Teams used to do so much testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, it's said drivers could race here blindfolded. But with the season testing ban, younger drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have nowhere near the level of experience of those who were in F1 pre-2007. Michael should have a massive advantage, if he can get on top of his car and tyres.

Schuey's report card should make this race worth watching, but be aware that the Circuit de Catalunya is rarely a thriller and, as we saw in Bahrain, 2010 cars and a dry track make Jack a dull boy.

Then again, the clouds over the paddock right now are ominous. It could be another wet one. Hope so!

Those who work in advertising are masters of persuasion. They subtly weave their images and slogans into our daily lives knowing that we will register so much unconsciously... and then we'll walk into a shop and feel a sense of familiarity with a product we didn't know we wanted and, perhaps, had never heard of before. It's brilliantly calculated, and we all fall for it.

The phrase subliminal advertising was coined in 1957 by the US market researcher James Vicary, who said he could get moviegoers to "drink Coca-Cola" and "eat popcorn" by flashing those messages onscreen for such a short time that viewers were unaware.

His claims led to fears that governments and cults would use the technique to their advantage and it was banned in many countries, including the UK.

But despite efforts to curb it, subliminal advertising remains big business because it's so effective.

This week Ferrari and sponsor Philip Morris have been accused by leading British doctors of running a subliminal cigarette advertising campaign in Formula One. Cigarette advertising is, of course, especially controversial given the negative effects of smoking.

F1 has long sidestepped attempts to invoke a worldwide ban on cigarette advertising. Ever since the Gold Leaf brand appeared on the Lotus cars at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, the sport has been heavily dependent on fag cash.

As anti-smoking legislation began to tighten in many parts of the world, F1 became an even more important opportunity for cigarette brand promotion. The sport negotiated some exemptions. However, since 2002 there has been a blanket ban for a tobacco company to sponsor a sporting event in the EU.

In 2000, Williams became the first major team to run without tobacco sponsorship. As the culture around smoking changed, many companies - in this case BMW - refused to be associated with it. Soon, all the teams separated from their tobacco backers... except Ferrari.

Ferrari receive a reported 75 million Euros a year from tobacco giant Philip Morris, though a team spokesman claims the figure is lower. The team remains officially registered as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and where the Marlboro stickers used to be, there are rectangle-shaped red white and black 'bar codes'.

The colours and layering are very reminiscent of Marlboro's logo. It looks like a Marlboro logo blurred by speed.

Don Elgie, chief executive of Creston, which owns the advertising agency DLKW, says he thinks that the bar code constitutes subliminal advertising.

John Britton, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and director of its tobacco advisory group, said: "The bar code looks like the bottom half of a packet of Marlboro cigarettes. I was stunned when I saw it. This is pushing at the limits. If you look at how the bar code has evolved over the last four years, it looks like creeping branding."
Gerard Hastings, director of the Centre for Tobacco Control Research, said: "I think this is advertising. Why a bar code? What is their explanation?"

Ferrari argue these allegations have no scientific basis, and have yet to be published in academic journals. They say PM doesn't own the bar code copyright. They say PM's investment is in return for factory visits and the like.

PM are known to own space on the Ferrari which is then sold to other commercial partners, but to pay more than a few million in return for factory visits, driver appearances, naming rights and merchandise seems a stretch.

Also, how come PM don't own the bar code copyright when they're running the same logo on their MotoGP Ducatis. That makes no sense.



PM claim their relationship with Ferrari doesn't violate the UK 2002 Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act, which prohibits tobacco advertising and sponsorship.

The Ferrari-PM deal is up for renewal next year. If it continues, big questions will be asked of Formula One.

It is hard for Ferrari to argue with any credibility that the bar code doesn't symbolize a Marlboro logo. John Britton has written to the Director General of the BBC about the ethics of broadcasting bar-coded Ferraris. These days F1 runs off TV, not cigarettes, and if the broadcasters are put under pressure, then Ferrari will be put under pressure.

Given a growing lack of tolerance to smoking culture, does remaining a tobacco advertising vehicle bring F1 in to disrepute? One could definitely argue that.

It makes you wonder why, unless they're getting a kickback, Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA haven't laid down the law.

"At one point you've got it, then you lose it. Then it's gone forever. All walks of life," pronounces Sick Boy in Trainspotting. "Georgie Best, for example, had it - lost it.

"Or David Bowie or Lou Reed. Charlie Nicholas, David Niven, Malcolm McLaren, Elvis Presley..."

Is Michael Schumacher on a similar downward trajectory?

Coming back after a 40-month-long sabbatical, it was always going to take Schumacher a few races to get up to speed. Michael was adamant everything was going according to plan despite lapping long way off Nico Rosberg's pace during the first three weekends. Michael was chirpy and relaxed. It was a bit disconcerting. Then China happened, and Michael's smile became a grimace. It was, he said, a weekend to forget.

So what went wrong and why?

Click here to read my feature.

Okay, okay, I know you're sick of hearing about the volcano - those of you who were affected are still having sleepless nights and those who weren't don't give a monkeys - but the volcano is all anyone in F1 has been talking about, and that's because it was the greatest race of the year.

Even better than China and Australia. Even better than Dijon '79.

This was a race with a real prize - own beds, rarely-seen children, home-cooked meals, a shower - not just some sparkly object d'art and a bottle of bubby.

We kept track of each other's progress on Twitter, following the #volcanicGP feed.

Two friends of mine were caught in Vietnam without a visa between them and were thrown in a cell for 13 hours.

Another journalist befell bad luck when he went to Shanghai's Hongqiao airport rather than Hangzhou. You can see how that happened.

There are hundreds of stories, and I look forward to hearing more when I get to Spain. But who was the winner?

Bernie Ecclestone. He was at his desk in Knightsbridge on Monday, business as usual. How did he do it? Teleportation? A pipeline to the west, like in The Living Daylights? Houdini never revealed his tricks and nor does The Bolt. The 79 year-old becomes the first winner of the Volcanic Grand Prix - which I'm guessing (for I'm no expert on geology) will be a sporadic thing. Like the United States Grand Prix.

I don't propose it's a race we should run every fortnight, but it was a memorable adventure for most and, I think, should count as Round 5 of the championship.