1.  Jenson Button         Brawn Mercedes        646.0
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      RBR Renault           651.5
 3.  Rubens Barrichello    Brawn Mercedes        649.5
 4.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               655.0
 5.  Mark Webber           RBR Renault           651.5
 6.  Timo Glock            Toyota                646.5
 7.  Jarno Trulli          Toyota                655.5
 8.  Fernando Alonso       Renault               645.0
 9.  Nico Rosberg          Williams Toyota       668.0
10.  Robert Kubica         BMW Sauber            660.0
11.  Kazuki Nakajima       Williams Toyota       676.6*
12.  Nelson Piquet         Renault               677.4*
13.  Nick Heidfeld         BMW Sauber            676.3*
14.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren Mercedes      683.0*
15.  Sébastien Buemi       STR Ferrari           678.0*
16.  Kimi Räikkönen        Ferrari               673.0*
17.  Sébastien Bourdais    STR Ferrari           669.0*
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     McLaren Mercedes      657.0*
19.  Adrian Sutil          Force India Mercedes  675.0*
20.  Giancarlo Fisichella  Force India Mercedes  656.0*

* declared weight

Jenson Button did brilliantly to get pole position in the dying seconds of qualifying. He hadn’t been happy with the balance of the car so far this weekend. Despite this he put the lap together when it really mattered.

Rubens Barrichello will perhaps be disappointed that it wasn’t him on pole, as he was looking stronger than Jenson up to Q3. Sebastien Vettel continued his top 3 record in qualifying in 2009, which is very impressive.

The fuel weights have now been declared and are listed above

Overall the front runners are pretty much doing the same thing.

Jenson Button will be the first of those at the sharp end to pit and he will be in on lap 15/16.  Sebastien Vettel has a couple more laps of fuel onboard, and he will visit the pits for the first time on lap 17/18.

Rubens Barrichello is in between this pair, and he will be in a lap after Jenson, but a lap before Vettel on lap 16/17.

Felipe Massa is the heaviest of the top 5, and he will run till lap 19/20. Mark Webber has exactly the same amount of fuel as Vettel. Obviously they won’t pit at the same time if they are close together on the track. Red Bull will decide who comes in first depending on how the first stint is unfolding.

Furthur back Alonso is the lightest of the top 10 and he will be on lap 14/15.

Lewis Hamilton is the heaviest of everyone and looks like he will be running a 1 stop race. He will be going beyond 30 laps in his first stint. Mclaren have been disappointing, and appear to have dropped back this weekend

From these weights Felipe Massa has to be my star of qualifying. He qualified 4^th amongst quicker cars, which had less fuel than him. Massa has four more laps of fuel on board than Jenson, and was only around 0.4 seconds slower than him. Fuel corrected it would have been quite close between the pair. This shows how good Massa is over a single lap, and how far Ferrari has come with these new upgrades.

Credit must be given to Jenson too who pulled off a stunning lap under immense pressure. He almost didn’t make it past the start line in time, after a mis-calculation during his out-lap. He was able to get his head straight again after that immediately.

Vettel did another brilliant job, and fuel corrected was right up there with Jenson too.

My prediction for tomorrow

Button has to be made favourite for this race. In Barcelona the driver on pole has won for the last eight seasons (which is a record). The Brawn GP has looked to have re-established its advantage over the long runs here. This circuit is very hard on the tyres and this plays into Brawn’s favour, as this car is easy on its tyres. Over the race distance here Brawn GP are up to 0.5 seconds quicker per lap.

Brawn GP don’t enjoy this same advantage in qualifying, so all the more reason why a 1-3 on the grid was a fantastic result for them.

As long as Button gets away well he ought to be able to cruise to a comfortable race victory. Vettel does have a couple more laps of fuel onboard, but I don’t think Red Bull quite has enough race pace this weekend Once they have the new diffuser sorted I am sure they will have. However we all know that Vettel can produce something special, so he will push Button very hard.

For me Massa is the joker in the pack for this race. He is starting 4^th and has KERs up his sleeve. It’s a very long run down to turn 1 so he has a great chance of having a go at Button at the start.

If Massa could get into the lead he has a genuine chance of winning the race. In Spain it’s impossible to overtake, and he can use KERs to defend down the pit straight. He would also have the tactical advantage with 4 laps more fuel than Jenson, so he could continue to stay in front after the pit stops.

It’s actually feasible that Massa could pull off a similar style of victory to Gilles Villeneuve’s Spanish GP win in 1981, where he held a train of cars behind him race long. Just like Massa now, Villeneuve was driving a Ferrari which wasn’t the quickest in the field. Maybe history really could repeat itself?

Barrichello is another potential threat to Button. We have seen in the long runs that Barrichello’s race pace is very strong. If he can get past Vettel early on, and move into 2^nd behind Jenson, we could see a straight fight between the Brawns. That would be very interesting indeed.

Furthur back I expect a very tight and entertaining battle between Webber, the Toyotas, Alonso and Kubica for the lower points paying positions.

Kimi Raikkonen could also join in this tight scrap if he has a strong first couple of laps. That will be crucial if he is to have any chance of salvaging something from this weekend. It’s shocking to see that Ferrari made exactly the same error again!

In conclusion Jenson Button should win this race. As usual an awful lot depends on what happens at the start. Jenson’s dream ticket would be a clean start and Massa moving into 2^nd and blocking the others.

Massa making an electric start and moving into 1^st would be difficult even with KERs onboard, but it can be done. Lets rememeber Rosberg managed that in Sepang without the KERs system. If this happened, Jenson’s life would be made much trickier in this race.

Spain doesn’t normally provide thrilling GPs, and I doubt this will change even with the new aero regulations.

It should still quite an intriguing race though. With all the big upgrades put on the cars for this race, we will learn the likely pecking order for the next quarter of the season.

If Brawn GP can triumph again tomorrow (regardless of everyone else’s efforts to usurp them with upgrades) then you would have to say, that they are starting to look very good for a fairytale championship win.

Of course in F1 anything can happen.

My top 8 prediction

1.   Jenson Button

2.   Felipe Massa

3.   Sebastien Vettel

4.   Rubens Barrichello

5.   Timo Glock

6.   Nico Rosberg

7.   Mark Webber

8.   Kimi Raikkonen

McLaren have been called to the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) to answer charges relating to this incident.

The WMSC have a range of different punishments which they could throw at McLaren. These start off with a basic reprimand/warning. They could choose to fine McLaren.

However, it could be more severe than that. The WMSC could choose take points off the team or ban them for a number of races. They could even ban them from the rest of the season altogether. That’s the worst-case scenario.

We also have to remember that it hasn’t been that long since the “Spygate” scandal. This won’t help their cause.

Everyone who is part of the McLaren team is going to have their legs shaking till the final verdict is delivered. Fans worldwide will be holding their breath.

It is very important that the FIA hold their nerve and give the right punishment. Whatever punishment they give McLaren will set a precedent. If they decide to be hard on McLaren, it will set a very dangerous precedent if teams commit similar or worse offences in the future. They have to be consistent in their punishments.

It’s critical that the punishment they choose is in proportion and fits the crime that McLaren have committed. You get the feeling that the FIA realise the importance of getting this decision right.

Whilst it’s true that lying to the stewards is a serious offence, there are far worse offences. These include a driver deliberately ramming a rival off the track, ignoring a black flag, or having an illegal part on the car (which gives an advantage) and keeping it under wraps. These are just a few examples.

If the FIA were to give a season ban to McLaren over “Lie-Gate,” then what would they do if one of the above offences were committed in future? It would have to be a harsher punishment than the one they give to McLaren over Lie-Gate in order to be consistent and not come under immense scrutiny.

It would be like giving someone the death penalty for robbery, and then somebody afterwards committing a murder. What higher punishment would you be able to hand out then?

This is why the FIA risk going into murky waters if they opt to give McLaren the worst sanction possible. They have to tread carefully, no matter how tempted they are to punish McLaren heavily.

It can’t be forgotten that McLaren have already suffered punishment over this incident. McLaren were disqualified from the Australian GP, losing six points. Lewis Hamilton and the team have also suffered major dents in their reputation. This reputation is going to take a long time to recover. It might never recover.

Lewis’s career has been badly affected. A long-term employee of McLaren (Dave Ryan) has also lost his job as a result of Lie-Gate. It could be argued that there is no need to punish the team any further.

So what is going to be the outcome of this hearing?

An important factor that will go in McLaren’s favour is that Martin Whitmarsh very quickly apologised and admitted that McLaren were in the wrong.

Lewis Hamilton also made that emotional apology in front of the world’s media in Sepang. The FIA accepted this apology. From this acceptance of the apology, it seems likely that any punishment given is going to be aimed at just the team. Hamilton will very likely escape any sanction against him personally.

Lewis Hamilton has attracted many fans to the sport and is the one of the grid’s most exciting drivers. He is now one of F1’s star attractions. Bernie Ecclestone knows that if Hamilton wasn’t on the grid, it would be damaging for audience figures. Therefore his wallet would suffer in the process. His wallet has already taken a big battering after the recent divorce from his wife.

After Michael Schumacher’s incident with Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 at Jerez, there were calls for him to be excluded from the 1998 championship. However, Schumacher was the big star attraction at the time. He ended up being allowed to start the 1998 season from the start.

His presence resulted in a very exciting title battle with Mika Hakkinen. You can see why Bernie didn’t want him banned from races, or excluded from the championship. It’s a similar case here with Hamilton.

Martin Whitmarsh has also written an apology letter to the FIA. He has effectively pleaded guilty to all the charges facing McLaren. The fact that he has done this could certainly help reduce McLaren’s punishment.

In February 2008 the FIA were due to have an unprecedented meeting to decide the legality of McLaren’s 2008 entry as a result of “Spygate.” A letter from Martin Whitmarsh apologising for the Spygate scandal helped McLaren’s cause greatly.

After receipt of that letter that February meeting was soon abandoned. McLaren were then allowed to take part in the 2008 championship. McLaren agreed to go down a different route with the development of their brake system. This is an idea they admitted came from the infamous 780-page Ferrari document.

Therefore, I think the letter from Whitmarsh will make a big difference for McLaren again this time. He won’t be contesting any of the charges against the team. This in fact now makes the hearing a much simpler affair.

His guilty plea to all these charges has removed the need for much of the investigation. The FIA will now not need to hear any evidence from the key figures in Lie-Gate, including Dave Ryan and Lewis Hamilton. Martin Whitmarsh is now going to be entering the hearing alone.

McLaren should never have gotten themselves into this mess in the first place. However, they have reacted well to it in the aftermath and done everything possible to limit the damage. Pleading guilty to all the charges and accepting full responsibility could prove to be the right move. Certainly in everyday life pleading guilty to an offence can reduce the sentence that gets handed out.

The resignation of Ron Dennis has been seen as another factor that could help McLaren. The relationship between Max Mosley and Ron Dennis has been very frosty over the years. Dennis has already denied claims that his decision to resign has anything to do with “Lie-Gate,” although it’s very hard to imagine that the timing of the two events has just been a mere coincidence.

McLaren have also stated their intention to build bridges with the FIA, and improve their relationship. Under Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren now want to change as a team and alter their image. McLaren are going to become a different team to the one we got used to under Ron Dennis.

I am sure many think there will be a massive punishment, but in the end I don’t think it will be that severe.

Surely McLaren will get a sizeable fine. They are also likely to suffer a points deduction. This could range from anything between 20 and 50 points. A suspended race ban is also a possibility. This means that if McLaren do break the rules again, then they would definitely be faced with a race ban.

The absolute worst-case scenario I feel is that McLaren are excluded from the Constructors’ Championship. This would be similar to 2007, but they were still allowed to enter races and score in the drivers’ championship. There is an outside chance of them facing a two-race ban. I can’t see the outcome being worse than that.

Nevertheless, you can never quite tell what the FIA have up their sleeves. They have made some strange decisions in the past.

Let’s hope that for the sake of the 2009 campaign that the appropriate punishment is given, and that the line can be drawn under this affair. Let’s get back to the racing!

It’s not impossible that Mclaren could fight back and win a championship this season. The amount of progress that they have made since pre-season testing has been staggering. In the test in Spain they were over two seconds of the pace of Brawn GP. However Mclaren have immense resources and personnel. If anyone can quickly cure their problems and close the gap then it’s Mclaren. Remember 2004 when Mclaren came back to win at Spa after a dreadfully slow and unreliable start to the season.

Each weekend so far this season they have made strides forward. Hamilton did a great qualifying lap and was 5^thon the grid on merit rather the result of a lighter fuel load. He qualified ahead of Barrichello with more fuel on board.

In the race he was able to keep up with the front runners, but fell back a bit in the last stint. 4^th was still a stunning result for the team. This a result which many would have regarded as impossible before the season began.

Perhaps the most impressive fact was Lewis’s position in the fastest laps of the race chart. His lap was less than 0.4 seconds slower than Trulli’s quickest lap. Both their fastest laps were set towards the end of the first stint. That is now the gap Mclaren have between themselves and the front three of Red Bull, Toyota and Brawn (who incidentally are now much more closely matched than at the start of 2009).

In Spain Mclaren will be bringing a substantial upgrade. A few weeks ago there were predictions from people inside the team, saying that the car would fly in Spain. That suggestion sounded crazy back then, but after seeing the progress the car is making, then maybe it’s not impossible.

Mclaren will have keep control of their expectations as other teams including Ferrari and BMW Sauber are planning massive upgrades are. Brawn GP are also introducing their first major season upgrade in Spain. Therefore they can’t be too cocky.

Nobody is going to be standing still between now and Spain. Lewis admitted that there is even a chance of Mclaren falling backwards in Spain. It all depends on how good everyone else’s major upgrades. The order could look completely different in Spain as the field is so tight. A few tenth’s worth of development will shuffle teams around.

Catalunya is a circuit where it’s important to have really good aerodynamic efficiency, and good tyre management. This is a very demanding circuit where cars with shortcomings are found out. If Mclaren can show a good performance there, then signs could be very promising for the rest of the season.

I think McLaren will end up winning races this season but I feel they will have to wait a bit longer. I can see them returning as regular front runners in the second half of the season.

In terms of the championship it could be too late by then. The gap could be too big to close down. Of course the other factor is what punishment Mclaren receive from the WMSC on Wednesday.

Why were BMW Sauber down at the back of the field?

BMW Sauber probably had their worse race since starting out in 2006. Their race went downhill right front the start when they made contact with other cars on the first lap. Both cars lost some aerodynamic parts, and this affected their performance for the rest of the duration.

BMW Sauber seem to have gone backwards since the season began, as opposed to making some progress as Ferrari, Renault and Mclaren have. For a team that were so bullish about their championship chances in 2009 it has been a very disappointing start.

It will feel even more disappointing to the team, since they shifted focus onto the 2009 car after their win in Canada last season. This was despite the fact Robert Kubica was leading the championship after that race.

Any hope of Robert Kubica leading the championship at some point this season look pretty grim. They have pinned all their hopes on an upgrade in Spain, but everyone will have upgrades. It will have to be a pretty spectacular upgrade if they want to challenge for this year’s title.

They may now regret that they didn’t push harder for the 2008 title. Then again they won’t have been expecting Mclaren and Ferrari not to make so many errors in the 2^nd half of the season. However if you have any sniff at all of challenging for a title you should always try and push for it.

Instead they pinned 2009 as their major title challenge. Maybe 2008 could have been that year and it eluded them.

Have the teams running KERs lost out?

The three front runners: Brawn GP, Toyota and Red Bull do not use the KERs system. The teams that have used the KERs system so far: Mclaren, Ferrari, Renault and BMW Sauber have all endured difficult starts to the season.

It seems that the KERs system hasn’t given the teams running it, as much of an advantage as predicted in the early stages. It’s useful at the start on tracks with a long run down to turn 1. It has also proven to be very useful when defending a position, and occasionally when on the offence.

In terms of the overall lap time KERs hasn’t added that much. Maybe around 0.3 seconds per lap.

The teams operating KERs have spent millions and invested a huge amount of time in getting in the device to work in terms of performance, safety and reliability. Also they have had to deal with the weight disadvantage from it. They are not as free to distribute the weight around the car.

The teams who opted not to run KERs have been more fully focused in adapting their cars to the new aerodynamic regulations. There has been more time to be won from adapting this approach. KERs haven’t taken up a large weight on their minds (quite literally).

Those teams who opted to run KERs haven’t spent as much time purely focusing on the aerodynamics, and have been building their car to accommodate KERs.

Toyota has been the most critical of KERs saying that at most tracks it won’t be much of an advantage. So far they look to be right. Many thought teams like Toyota would suffer in races because of having no KERs system. It hasn’t worked out that way at all.

Building a car that doesn’t have to accommodate KERs, and focusing purely on the aero has proved the correct decision as it stands.

Will a KERs car win a race this season? I think Mclaren may win a few races later on in the season, but I don’t hold as much hope for the others.

Has overtaking improved?

Bahrain was the first “normal conditions” race. In Australia the race was in the evening with cooler track temperatures. Also the super -soft tyre there turned out to be a disaster. That had a major effect on spicing up that race. Sepang and Shanghai were both wet races.

Bahrain was then a true test of much overtaking has improved. Overall it didn’t turn out to be a race with much overtaking. On a track where its ment to be easy to overtake, that’s not good news. We saw quite a few battles in the early laps of the race, but that’s when the field was still bunched together after the start.

The new regulations were supposed to make the following time just one second. Vettel was much faster when he was following Hamilton and Trulli, but he never came close to overtaking them. The Trulli train made an unwelcome return.

The cars look as if they can follow each other a little bit more closely but not necessarily close enough to make overtaking easier. Overall I would say there has been a slight improvement in overtaking, but not the significant improvement fans were hoping. Most of the drivers have all commented that overtaking is still difficult. Timo Glock went as far as saying it was now even tougher.

Overtaking cars with KERs is near impossible if you don’t have the system yourself. A driver who has KERs can press the button when the car behind is in their slipstream and pull away. It’s vital not to end up behind a car that uses the system as some found out to their cost in the Bahrain GP. This is why Button’s move on Hamilton on lap 2 was so special and critical to his race result.

A factor in Bahrain was that the slipstreams were very hot due to the conditions. Some drivers may have been holding back, due to overheating issues.

Therefore I think Spain may be the confirmation of whether the racing has improved or not. In Spain we always tend to get dull races. If we see a few more moves than usual, then there has been a definite step forward. If we get the usual tedious Spanish GP then we know that not enough has been done to help address the overtaking issue. A re-think may be necessary.

Button’s pass on Hamilton sets him up to win against the odds. Was it his best performance of the season so far?

Going into the race it wasn’t looking brilliant for Jenson. He had qualified 4^th and was surrounded by KERs cars. To make matters worse the Brawn GP was struggling badly with overheating. The temperature was three or four degrees higher than they could realistically cope with. The Brawn GP car wouldn’t be able to cope with staying in another car’s turbulent air.

The first couple of laps were going to be crucial if Jenson was going to have any chance to challenge for this victory. Button got a decent start and was able to get ahead of Sebastien Vettel. Unfortunately Hamilton pressed his KERs button halfway down the straight and was able to get ahead. Button was also heavily challenged by the Ferraris but he managed to hold them off. That was critical.

Button was currently 4^th behind Hamilton, and the two Toyotas running away ahead. Button had to pass Hamilton. At the end of the first lap Hamilton made an error at turn 14. This allowed Button to get up right close. Button then nailed Hamilton in a very brave out-braking move into turn 1. Had Button not made this move, he would have been stuck behind Hamilton for a long time. He would have then had to hang back so his car didn’t overheat.

However now he had some clear track, and importantly clean air. He managed to keep the gap to the Toyotas stable. He was running longer and was able to leapfrog the pair of them at the pit stops.

As the Trulli train formed Button was able to get away and build a gap of around thirteen seconds, which he then maintained for the rest of the race.

It was a fantastic performance by Jenson Button. This was his best drive of the season. The car didn’t have the advantage it had at previous events. There was the overheating issue too, which Ross Brawn described before the race as “trouble”. He had a lot of work to do at the start to make a victory challenge even possible. He pulled it off brilliantly.

He has now extended his championship lead to 12 points, and is looking in brilliant shape.

Should Toyota have won their first race?

I think they should have done, and they may well look back on this race with some regret. Toyota was very fast this weekend. They were comfortably the quickest in qualifying (and that’s even taking into account the fuel loads). They were also 1-2 in the fastest lap of the race charts. In terms of pace they had the edge on their closest rivals.

In the first stint they were dominating and looking in great shape. However from the 1^st stop onwards it started to go wrong and they fell backwards.

They decided to switch onto the harder tyre for their long middle stint, which proved to be the wrong move. Both Trulli and Glock struggled for performance on this tyre. Trulli held up Vettel and Hamilton losing ground on Button with each passing lap. Glock struggled even more with the tyres and fell even further back. They should have put on the super-softs for this stint of the race.

Trulli was then on the right tyre for the last stint. However he then ended up being leapfrogged by Vettel, who was running longer than him in the second stint. If Trulli could have passed Vettel early on in the stint, he could have put pressure on Button (who was now doing his stint with the harder and slower tyre), and make him have to push and put his revs up higher. Jarno however never got close to attempting a move on the young German.

Trulli ended up with a podium at the end of the race, but it could have been a completely different story. Toyota lost out by being too conservative on their strategy. This is something that they have now conceded.

A key factor could have been Toyota’s lack experience at racing at the front of the pack. Ross Brawn on the other hand has years of experience at calling the shots at the front. He hardly ever makes a strategic error. I think this is an important difference between the two teams. I am sure Toyota will have learnt a lot from this race and their race tactics will improve in future.

The team are looking in very good shape at the moment and they will get another opportunity to win soon.

Vettel was the pre-race favourite after the car weights were revealed. Why didn’t he win?

Vettel could have challenged for the win but didn’t end in clean air when he needed to be. At the start he was overtaken by Hamilton, but wasn’t able to re-pass him quickly like Button was able to. Vettel couldn’t find a way past. Every time Vettel was getting close Hamilton could defend with his KERs button. He ended spending the whole stint behind Lewis. This lost him over ten seconds.

In the second stint he then got stuck behind Jarno Trulli’s Toyota. At this point of the race Vettel was around one second faster than Jarno but couldn’t find a way through. This allowed Button to drive into the distance.

Vettel managed to leap into 2^nd place after the second round of pit stops but it was too late. He also had Jarno Trulli on the super-soft tyre right behind him, and therefore was now defending against him.

Being behind slower cars cost him the potential of challenging for a second successive victory, but 2^nd is still an extremely strong result. Maybe he should have tried a lunge into turn 1, as Button did to Lewis with success early on in the race.

1. Trulli       Toyota                 648.5

 2. Glock        Toyota                 643.0

 3. Vettel       Red Bull-Renault       659.0

 4. Button       Brawn-Mercedes         652.5

 5. Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes       652.5

 6. Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes         649.0

 7. Alonso       Renault                650.5

 8. Massa        Ferrari                664.5

 9. Rosberg      Williams-Toyota        670.5

10. Raikkonen    Ferrari                671.5

11. Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes       678.5

12. Nakajima     Williams-Toyota        680.9

13. Kubica       BMW-Sauber             698.6

14. Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber             696.3

15. Piquet       Renault                677.6

16. Sutil        Force India-Mercedes   679.0

17. Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari     678.5

18. Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes   652.0

19. Webber       Red Bull-Renault       656.0

20. Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari     667.5

Finally the car weights are in and there are some very interesting conclusions. The Toyotas aren’t that much lighter as many were expecting. Sebastien Vettel is heavier than those around him meaning that he did an outstanding lap, and is in a very strong position.

Timo Glock is the lightest of the front runners and he will come in around lap 12/13. Trulli has two laps more fuel and will be in on lap 14/15. Jenson Button will be in on lap 15/16. So this is only one lap after Trulli is due to stop. This means that Trulli comfortably beat Button on merit, and not because of a much lighter fuel load. This just shows what a brilliant lap Trulli produced. It’s what we have come to expect from him.

Vettel looks like he is in a great position. He has qualified third and he has about six laps more fuel than Glock and about three or four laps more fuel than polesitter Trulli. He will be visiting the pits for the first time on lap 18/19.

Hamilton will also come in on lap 15/16. He got amongst the Brawn GPs on merit. He had more fuel on board than Barrichello who is behind him. Mclaren has made a massive stride forward in the last few weeks.

Barrichello is down in 6^th and only has 14/15 laps of fuel on board. Barrichello simply didn’t have a great lap at all. He has it all to do tommorrow.

Massa, Rosberg and Raikkonen are the heaviest men of the top 10 and will all be doing a long first stint beyond 20 laps.

The BMW Saubers are the heaviest cars on the grid and will be going beyond lap 30. They are surely on a one stop strategy.

Summary of difference in laps of fuel between the front runners

Timo Glock is the lightest on fuel

Jarno Trulli + 2/3 laps

Rubens Barrichello + 2/3 laps

Jenson Button +3/4 laps

Lewis Hamilton + 3/4 laps

Sebastien Vettel +5/6 laps

My race predictions

Tommorrow is looking like it’s a very open race. Brawn GP are going to have work extremely hard if they want to win this race. In qualifying the fuel loads show that Brawn GP was beaten on pure pace. Jarno Trulli beat Button by just over 0.6 seconds. Being one or 2 laps lighter doesn’t account for all that time difference. Brawn GP look like they have been overtaken in terms of one lap pace.

Toyota is just very quick this weekend. We hadn’t seen their full potential yet this season as they have had some penalties, and we have had two rain affected races. Today they have proven that they have a fast car.

Whether they can translate that to their maiden F1 win is a different matter.

Brawn GP’s long runs have looked very good, although their race pace isn’t as dominant as it was in Australia. They are able to look after their tyres, particularly the super-softs better than anybody else. However we now know that they can’t rely on having substantially more fuel, so they are going to have to overtake cars if they want to win this race. Their other main problem is that they are surrounded by cars with KERs. Off the line KERs will be a big advantage here, as it’s a much longer run down to turn 1 than in China last week.

This means by the end of lap one, Brawn could be as many as three or four positions down on where they started. This means that despite their likely superior race pace, they could well end up giving themselves far too much to do to win this race. If they get stuck behind cars with KERs it will be very tough to overtake them, as the boast button will be used in order to defend.

Vettel is my favourite for tommorrow’s race. The Red Bull looks to be working very well around Bahrain just as it did in China. He is also heavier than the Toyotas ahead of him, and the cars directly behind him. If he gets a solid start and keeps Toyota in sight, then come the pit stops he has a great chance of leapfrogging them. He has shown how strong his race pace is so far this season. But like the Brawns he too has be wary of the KERs cars.

Hamilton has got an outside chance of a podium tomorrow. The car looks much better this weekend, and he seems very positive and up for the battle. 5^th was a great result for him. He is the first of the KERs cars on the grid, and he will fancy his chances at getting amongst the front runners into turn 1.

I think this race will either be won by Timo Glock or Sebastien Vettel. Jarno Trulli’s race pace isn’t as strong as his one lap place so I think he will start well but fall back as the race progesses. Vettel and Glock will take over the battle for the win. As Vettel is heavier than Glock, and has been looking strong all weekend I will back him for the victory. It will be very closely fought though.

Button could join this battle if he gets a good start and doesn’t lose too much time behind KERS cars. The first couple of laps tomorrow are going to be critical in how the battle for victory unfolds, and who is going to contest it.

I think we are in for a great race with lots of overtaking tomorrow. Let’s hope we don’t get the sandstorm that is currently being predicted.

My top 8 predictions

1.      Sebastien Vettel

2.      Timo Glock

3.      Jenson Button

4.      Lewis Hamilton

5.      Jarno Trulli

6.      Rubens Barrichello

7.      Heikki Kovalainen

8.      Felipe Massa

1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:33.647 + 19
2. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:33.907 + 0.260 17
3. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:33.938 + 0.291 17
4. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:34.227 + 0.580 24
5. Button Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) 1:34.434 + 0.787 15
6. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:34.502 + 0.855 24
7. Barrichello Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) 1:34.531 + 0.884 18
8. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:34.589 + 0.942 17
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:34.827 + 1.180 21
10. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:34.827 + 1.180 19
11. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:34.880 + 1.233 24
12. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:34.938 + 1.291 21
13. Piquet Renault (B) 1:34.974 + 1.327 21
14. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:35.021 + 1.374 18
15. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:35.036 + 1.389 22
16. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:35.042 + 1.395 16
17. Glock Toyota (B) 1:35.333 + 1.686 20
18. Alonso Renault (B) 1:35.348 + 1.701 24
19. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:35.353 + 1.706 22
20. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:35.369 + 1.722 15

Practise 2

1. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:33.339 36
2. Alonso Renault (B) 1:33.530 + 0.191 25
3. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:33.616 + 0.277 37
4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:33.661 + 0.322 29
5. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:33.676 + 0.337 32
6. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:33.694 + 0.355 35
7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:33.763 + 0.424 30
8. Glock Toyota (B) 1:33.764 + 0.425 37
9. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:33.885 + 0.546 30
10. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:33.899 + 0.560 36
11. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:33.994 + 0.655 30
12. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:34.025 + 0.686 23
13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:34.127 + 0.788 37
14. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:34.366 + 1.027 26
15. Piquet Renault (B) 1:34.411 + 1.072 29
16. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:34.564 + 1.225 34
17. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:34.605 + 1.266 31
18. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:34.670 + 1.331 28
19. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:34.764 + 1.425 35
20. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:34.790 + 1.451 33

Overall a very interesting Friday. It seems that the the grid order at the front is pretty much the same with Brawn GP, Toyota, Williams and Red Bull the top 4 teams. The Renault also looks as if its improving and they have a decent chance of getting both cars into the top 10 tommorrow, and getting some much needed points. Nelson Piquet now has the same developments as on Fernando Alonso’s car. If he doesn’t make Q2 at least tommorrow he is in real trouble.

Brawn GP may not be topping the times but they always seem to run more heavily in practise, therefore I am sure they will be perfectly happy with how practise went. However Toyota and Red Bull will give the Brawns a tough time, but Brawn ought to be able to edge this race

Ferrari look as if they are going to struggle again this weekend. It’s not going to be till Spain when the big upgrades come that any of the strugglers will expect to see substantial improvements. It seems that the 4 teams who have run KERs have struggled so far this season.  The time and emphasis they have put on developing KERs seems to have put them at a disadvantage to those teams that have been more sceptical of the system (including Toyota) or just chosen not to start with it. Therefore they have been concentrating more on other areas of the car, mainly the aerodynamics.

In Bahrain though KERs should be more useful than it was in China in the wet, particularly at the long run down to turn 1 at the start.

The drivers were making alot of errors today. The majority of those errors were down at the turn 9/10 complex. Alot of drivers here went off into the sand. Also there were some going off at the penultimate corner before the long 1km pit straight. I think even in the race we will still see a few errors on those two parts of the circuit.

Jenson Button is also looking very strong in the drivers’ championship, having scored 21 points out of the first 25 available. That is great championship form. He is really stepping up to the plate now he finally has a great car. He has beaten his team mate Rubens Barrichello in all three races so far. Barrichello has to up his game so that he doesn’t get stuck with the dreaded number 2 status again, that he suffered at Ferrari. It’s a very important weekend for the Brazilian.

Brawn GP still has the quickest car in dry conditions. In China Brawn GP were 1-2 in qualifying when you take the fuel loads into account and do the maths. Had the race been dry they would been able to demonstrate their superior race pace, as the car is very easy on its tyres. They ought to have won that race 1-2 once the strategies played out.

However in the wet conditions the Brawn wasn’t able to keep the heat in its tyres as well as the Red Bull did. This was key to how the Chinese GP unfolded. The wet weather demonstrated the team’s only real flaw so far. This isn’t a huge surprise as the car had hardly done any running at all in the wet. Sepang was the only bit of wet running they have had. Jenson had that race won in the dry section of the race so the rain wasn’t a major issue there. They are still yet to find a good balance in the rain.

In Bahrain the expected hot temperatures should play into Brawn GP’s hands. The ability to look after the tyres in race stints will give them an advantage over their opponents in these tough conditions, particularly at the end of the stints. In dry race conditions Brawn GP’s advantage could still around 0.5 seconds per lap over their nearest rival.

In qualifying the gap isn’t as big. Red Bull, Toyota and Williams are all capable of threatening Brawn GP’s position on the front row of the grid. Any of their drivers could try and go light, or try a radical strategy so that they can try and mix it with the Brawns.

It will be interesting to see close Red Bull can be to Brawn GP in this race. However I don’t expect an even challenge between the pair until Red Bull get their new diffuser sorted out.

Toyota could play a major role this weekend. We have see glimpses of the pace that the car has. We haven’t really had a major indicator of where they are in race trim. In Australia they started at the back of the grid, and it has rained in the last two races.

Toyota was also one of the teams that came to Bahrain to do extensive testing. Therefore this may give them a bit of a head start. The design of the car was focused to be easy on its rear tyres, so this could also be play into their hands at Bahrain. They could be as big threat as Red Bull is to Brawn GP.

Williams too have shown some pace but haven’t yet utilised it. If they can get it together this weekend they there is no reason why they can’t join in the battle to catch Brawn GP.

Ferrari, Renault and BMW are all in need of a result this weekend. It’s been a terrible start to the season for all of them, especially as they were all touted as title contenders pre-season. Not much will change this weekend as a week between races isn’t enough time to put major upgrades on the car. All are just in need of getting some valuable points on the board.

Ferrari and BMW should be stronger this weekend. They both tested here along with Toyota in winter testing. Ferrari will be hoping that they can get their KERs system operating reliably again, as there is time to be gained from KERs around Bahrain. This group of teams will be hoping that they can start making in-roads on the group in front of them.

Mclaren have started to make improvements. In China the car looked much better than it did at the start of the season in Melbourne. The car now seems more driveable and Lewis seems happier. A solid double points finish in China was a great result for Mclaren.

I think their upward trend will continue in Bahrain. Another double points finish is a distinct possibility. Mclaren also appear to be the leader in terms of having the best KERs package so far this season. It is reliable and is very well packaged so they don’t have a huge weight penalty because of it. They have made it work really well and appears to be giving them a useful advantage. The team are very happy with it. That’s at least one thing they nailed in 2009.

For all of these chasing teams this weekend is about getting as many points as possible. Spain is going to be pivotal for many down the pit lane. This is where we will be seeing huge upgrades, and possibly more “double decker” diffusers popping up. It’s a chance for teams like Ferrari and BMW to get back into the running in 2009.

Conclusion

It should be another exciting weekend at Bahrain with more great racing, and maybe a few more surprises throughout the grid. Brawn GP is most definitely the team to beat, unless we get a rare desert rain storm as the Moto GP riders suffered in Qatar a couple of weeks ago.

It will be a close battle between the chasing pack of Red Bull, Toyota and Williams. It will be interesting to see how hard they can fight Brawn GP. And could one of the underperforming giants behind go and join them?

Brawn should just edge this race but it won’t be easy at all.

My top 5 prediction

1.      Button

2.      Vettel

3.      Trulli

4.      Barrichello

5.      Webber

This weekend Formula 1 goes to Bahrain, which is a track with different challenges and conditions, which should be the opposite of the cool and wet weather we saw in Shanghai.

Track History and Guide

Bahrain is another of F1’s modern facilities built by Hermann Tilke. The facilities here are state of the art and no expense has been spared. Bahrain signed the deal with Bernie to host the GP back in 2002. The organisers then did a great job to build it in 2 years ready for the first race in 2004. All the organisers are extremely welcoming and provide exceptional hospitality for the F1 circus and all of the media.

Bahrain was the first F1 race to be held in the Middle East region. There were other countries from the same region hoping to brag that right, such as Egypt and Lebanon but Bahrain won the battle. They have reaped the benefits since as they are now the centre of motorsport in the gulf and attract a host of other racing series including: Drag racing, GP2, Formula 3, GT Races and more recently the Australian V8 supercars. Bahrain has been a relatively successful F1 event always providing interesting races, and in 2004 the track won the award for best-organized race of the year.

The track’s desert setting makes this track very unique. The sight of the track surrounded by sand makes it very nice to look it. The sand can be a problem but it is compacted down to minimize the amount of sand that comes onto the track. This process costs the organisers thousands of pounds. However there is still always sand offline, so drivers will lose time if they lose their line in any of the corners.

The teams will be hoping that there won’t be a repeat of the sandstorms which struck in winter testing.

It is very hot in Bahrain but the humidity is nowhere near as bad as in Sepang. Therefore it is more bearable for the drivers.

The track itself is made out of 3 long straights, with a tight and twisty infield section in the middle. The track is also extremely wide.

The trickiest section on the circuit by far is turns 9 and 10. It starts off as a fast sweeping bend but suddenly gets tighter and tighter, and becomes a sharp left hand bend. It’s a very common site to see drivers lock-up and miss the apex here.

It’s important to brake accurately into turns 1, 4 and 13. It’s so easy to lock-up the brakes, and slide a little bit offline into the sand, which will lose the drivers time. On the plus side if you make a really bad error there is plenty of runoff. The fact that the run-off areas are the size of football pitches is one of the biggest criticisms of the track. Many feel that drivers should be more heavily punished when they go off the track.

In terms of setup it’s important to achieve a good straight line speed down all the straights. The setup will need to be compromised slightly in order for the car to handle well in the twisty infield section of the track. Most time can be won in the slow corners. However engineers can’t focus on the infield section too much, otherwise speed will be lost down the long straights.

Bahrain is a big test on the cars. At the end of the each of the three long straights is a heavy braking zone. Time can be won and lost here. Therefore it’s crucial that the car’s brakes are working well. Over the race distance brake wear could be a big issue, so the drivers that don’t trash their brakes early on in the race will benefit later on.

Bahrain is also hard on the tyres. With the usual hot conditions the track temperature can go sky high. A boiling track will increase the rate of tyre wear. Drivers will have to look after their tyres well over the race stints. The heat also means keeping the cars as cool as possible will be another issue, just as it was in Sepang.

Bahrain is the one of the easiest tracks to overtake on in F1. With a slow corner leading onto the long pit straight, it is easy to stick to the car in front.

Then there is a heavy braking zone at the end. We will see plenty of moves there in the race.

Turn 4 is another heavy braking area after a long straight. Same applies to turn 14. So that’s at least 3 obvious places where passing is feasible.

Even in the last few seasons, where overtaking has been near impossible, we have still see overtaking at Bahrain. With the new 2009 aero regulations the racing should be even better.

We should see KERs being more of an advantage. With a much longer run down to turn 1 than in China, more metres can be gained off the line with the KERs system on board. Also the drivers with KERs will probably make full use of the system on the exits of all the corners leading onto a straight.

Overall Bahrain is a great track with the possibility of providing great wheel to wheel action. The main negatives are that the circuit lacks the atmosphere and soul of classic circuits such as Spa and Silverstone. The other big criticism as mentioned early is the huge areas of runoff, which arguably makes life too easy for the drivers than it should be.

China produced another extremely exciting race with Red Bull winning their first ever race in Formula One. The rain, which was worse than predicted gave the drivers a real challenge. They really had to work for their money, which is what everyone wants to see.

We saw a few stunning performances, along with some error strewn races, too.

So let’s have a look at the main stories to take away from the Chinese GP weekend.

Exceptional performance from Red Bull and both their drivers.

This one-two finish for Red Bull was more than deserved. In the first two races, Red Bull threatened to deliver a great result but it just didn’t happen. The potential was there for all to see though.

Vettel was second in Melbourne, until the tangle with Robert Kubica. In Malaysia Webber said he could have won had the heavy rain and red flag not arrived when it did.

In China it all came together for the team. The team opted to go light in qualifying and Vettel grabbed pole position with Mark Webber third. In the race the car was in a class of its own, and both Vettel and Webber drove brilliantly. The Red Bull seems to work really well in the wet conditions.

The car was very well balanced, and kept its heat in the tyres more efficiently than anyone else. They were so fast that their light fuel load didn’t put them at a disadvantage at all.

Vettel’s move on Jenson Button for the lead after his final pit stop (and before Jenson’s last stop) demonstrated how much quicker Red Bull was.

At times Sebastien Vettel was over two seconds a lap quicker than his nearest opponents. Unlike most other drivers in the race he didn’t make a single error all afternoon. He made it look so simple, which the sign of a great driver.

He has a great feel for tricky conditions, just as he showed at Monza last season. This race has shown us that the victory in Monza wasn’t just a one-off. If anything this performance was even more impressive

He really is the real deal and surely a future world champion. The added pressure on him this season doesn’t seem to be getting to him at all. He also isn’t getting carried away with his success. He still has the same charming personality and has his feet firmly on the ground. He has the maturity of a driver well beyond his years.

Mark Webber will be disappointed not to have won the first race for the team. However, he still finished a very strong second, and is right up there with Vettel in the championship standings. Considering the tough winter that Mark Webber has had, he can still feel very proud.

If someone had told him after his accident (when he broke his leg) that he would get a second place within the first three races of 2009 he probably wouldn’t have believed them. Apparently he is still limping slightly when he isn’t in the car.

Red Bull will now be hoping they can get their new diffuser sorted out as soon as possible. Once they have got that sorted they will be a real force to be reckoned with.

Brawn GP still have the fastest car but China demonstrated their only major flaw

Red Bull may have dominated this week, but Brawn GP are still the quickest team on the grid. Fuel corrected Barrichello was actually the real star of qualifying. Button was second quickest when you took fuel loads into account, whereas the Red Bulls would only have been fourth and fifth.

In dry conditions Brawn GP’s race pace is also still stronger. The car is easy on it’s tyres so therefore is quick at the end of a race stint. Had the race have been dry Brawn GP ought to have cruised to another one-two, once the race strategies had played out.

However the race was wet and this changed things completely for Brawn GP. Brawn GP have hardly done any running with this car in the wet. This race shows that the car doesn’t work brilliantly in these conditions. The car had trouble keeping heat into it’s tyres, and that’s why it struggled to keep the Red Bull cars in sight.

Brawn GP won in Malaysia mainly because Button had the race won before the storm arrived. In the wet they were then able to hold onto their position. Button had commented back then that the car was badly balanced in the wet.

Brawn GP will have to work on making sure the car works more effectively in the wet conditions in the future.

Finishing third and fourth, though is still a very useful result. Button has scored 26 points out of the first 30 available. Brawn GP are also still comfortably ahead in the Constructors championship. That is great championship form. If you had told Jenson last season that he would score 26 points in the first three races of 2009 he probably would have fainted.

Again he beat Rubens Barrichello comfortably. He is now starting to establish a clear gap over Rubens. Rubens needs respond to his team mate or risk ending up in the same situation as he did at Ferrari.

Overall losing this race hasn’t done Brawn that much harm, especially as Red Bull had only scored one point before this race.

If it is hot and dry in Bahrain as you would expect then Brawn GP should be victorious again. However Red Bull are closing in.

Another nightmare for Ferrari, although Massa was one of the stars of the race

Unbelievably Ferrari have scored no points for the third race running. They were even slower here than they had been in Australia and Malaysia. Due to reliability problems with their KERs system, they opted not to run it in China. This lost them even more time.

However despite this Massa drove a fantastic race. He was storming his way through the field, and made mince meat of his own team mate. When the Safety Car came out he was sitting in a very strong position.

He could very well have challenged Button for the final podium place. Unfortunately reliability struck yet again, and Massa pulled out of the race with an electrical problem.

Kimi Raikkonen didn’t suffer reliability issues but failed to make an impression. His main highlight of the race was an ongoing battle with Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari have now got to work extremely hard to solve their issues. If they don’t get some big results soon they may have to write off this season and start focusing on 2010. The atmosphere in the team seems very pessimistic and negative at the moment.

This is very unlike the Ferrari team we have seen in the past. Stefano Domenicali has to change this as a matter of urgency.

Ferrari have to get their KERs system working again, and get the new diffuser up and running as soon as possible. If Ferrari don’t produce something in Bahrain (where they tested extensively over the winter), and Spain (where all the teams bring major upgrades) then it’s very hard to see them bouncing back.

I think the loss of the dream team compromising of Michael Schumacher, Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Rory Bryne is now really starting take it’s toll on the team. Who wouldn’t miss four people of that calibre? They are simply irreplaceable.

Ferrari simply haven’t done as good a job at adapting to the new 2009 rules as others have, with the added problem of decision making and reliability being very poor too.

Are Ferrari now sinking into oblivion? Or can the new-look team show their worth and fight back? The next few weeks are going to give us the answer.

Piquet Jnr and Nakajima are the front runners in the F1 sack race

Both drivers had a poor weekend in China. Piquet Jnr qualified 17th for the third time this season. He maybe didn’t have the new bits on the car that Alonso had, but the car is still quicker than 17th position. In the race he spent more time spinning than making his way through the field.

This is now three races where he has performed well below what should be expected of him. The question is how long are Renault going to persist with these poor performances?

Bahrain and Spain are going to be the two most important races of his career. By then he should have the new parts on his car. If he still can’t make it through the first stage of qualifying, and make an impact on the points, then its difficult to see him staying with the team for much longer.

If Renault did decide to let him go then it’s hard to see who would want to give him a second chance.

Nakajima had a similarly poor race full of errors. Normally these crazy races are the sort he excels in. He has shown in the past at how good he is at keeping his head, but in this race that didn’t happen. Nakajima also made an error and crashed heavily in Melbourne.

Qualifying has been the main weakness in his F1 career so far, and that weakness has remained. He has been nowhere near Rosberg in qualifying so far this season.

Like Piquet, Nakajima has a very important couple of races coming up. However he is part of William’s Toyota engine deal. He brings vital sponsorship to the team so his seat is still pretty safe for now despite a poor start to 2009.

McLaren pick up some useful points, but Kovalainen is their star

This weekend Mclaren looked in better shape. With new parts on including a new diffuser the car looked to be more drivable, and Lewis was the happiest he has been all season. He did very well to get the car to Q3 and eventually qualify ninth.

In the race he came through in sixth after a very eventful race. He approached the race in full attack and produced daring overtaking moves. This included overtaking Kimi Raikkonen numerous times.

On the other hand there were times when Lewis perhaps pushed a little bit too hard, and he went off the road three or four times. This current McLaren isn’t the same car he drove at Silverstone last season. This car is much harder to handle in wet conditions, and Lewis tried to extract as much out of the car as he possibly could and more.

The wet tyres also wore heavily on the Mclaren due to them doing a one stop race.

Kovalainen drove very well and for the first time in a while outshone Lewis Hamilton. He kept his car on the track throughout the race. He kept his head and ended up passing Lewis late on in the race, whilst on one of his off track excursions. Kovalainen then chased down Rubens Barrichello in the closing stages.

Whilst Kovalainen’s drive may not have been as exciting to watch as Lewis’s, he drove very maturely within the limits of the car and was consistent. Along with Vettel he was one of the only drivers not to go off the track, and he took full advantage of that. If you took the Red Bull drivers out of the equation Heikki would have been my star of the race.

Hats off to Buemi

Sebastien Buemi proved his doubters wrong again. In Sepang he had a difficult weekend when he started at the back of the grid. Here he fought back with a vengeance.

In qualifying he managed to sneak into Q3 with a great lap. In the race the tough conditions didn’t phase him and he took no prisoners. Just like in Melbourne he was battling with Ferraris.

The only error was touching the back of Vettel. He dropped back a bit after this incident but still finished the race with a championship point. Impressively this was his second points finish in his first three F1 outings.

At the moment the decision to put him in the car has proved to be a shrewed move, as opposed to a crazy move as deemed by many (including myself).

He is also putting his more experienced team mate into the shade. In China Bourdais wasn’t even able to get past the first part of qualifying.

Adrian Sutil suffers Deja-Vu

Adrian Sutil’s best drives in F1 have all come in wet conditions. This was another one of those races. During the safety car period he came into the pits and brimmed his car with fuel. This strategy worked very well and he fought his way through the field.

In the last part of the race he had got himself up into sixth place. He was fighting tooth and nail with both Mclarens, Glock, Heidfeld and Buemi.

Sadly like in Monaco there wasn’t to be a happy ending. He got caught out in the river heading down to turn six and hit the barriers. Race over.

If Adrian Sutil had got those three points Force India would have gone above Ferrari in the Constructors Championship!

Despite no points it proved again that Sutil does have talent, and he used this opportunity to remind the paddock of that.

Expected title contenders are not in the hunt

The amazing thing about this season so far is that we have title contenders that we never expected. It’s as if the grid has turned back to front almost. The new order we are seeing emerge in F1 is fascinating and great to see. It’s great to see different people at the front of the grid.

Here is a list of the five drivers who most people, would have probably expected to be contenders, before the main preseason tests started.

Lewis Hamilton

Fernando Alonso

Kimi Raikkonen

Felipe Massa

Robert Kubica

So far in 2009 Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have been the only drivers of this five, who have actually scored any points at all. The odds on that happening before the season would have been extremely high.

Unless there is a dramatic turnaround it’s looking like none of these names are going to be serious contenders. Of course F1 can change quickly so don’t rule any of them out just yet. If there is going to be a big improvement it needs to come within the next couple of races otherwise it will be too late.

The Spanish GP is going to be vitally important for teams like McLaren, Ferrari, BMW and Renault. This is the traditional race where all the major upgrades arrive. If these teams don’t improve sufficiently at that race, then it’s hard to see them making a giant comeback in the title race.

The key championship contenders at the moment look to be Brawn GP and Red Bull. I think these two teams will battle each other hard throughout the season. Brawn GP have the quickest car at the moment, but Red Bull have some big developments to come including the new diffuser.

Ross Brawn has also promised a big upgrade for his team in Spain. They will not be standing still, and they have a big enough budget to develop the car till the end of the season.

Toyota and Williams have shown bursts of pace this season. I think both teams will win in 2009 but I not sure whether they are consistent enough to join Brawn GP and Red Bull in a championship bid.

Looking ahead to Bahrain

Bahrain will be very different to China. In China it was cool and wet. In Bahrain it’s going to be sunny and very hot. The demands will be completely different.

In the dry Brawn GP definitely still have the quickest car. They will become the team to beat once again unless we get a rare desert rain storm. It will be interesting to see how strongly Red Bull can challenge Brawn GP in dry conditions.

I think Toyota will also be very close challengers. Unlike Brawn and Red Bull, Toyota tested extensively in Bahrain during the winter. This could give them a small advantage.

Ferrari also tested in Bahrain so they should get their first points of the season.

This promises to be another great race but Brawn GP should just edge it and return to winning ways.

The first three races of F1 2009 have been quite spectacularly, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the fourth chapter in Bahrain this weekend.

This was turning out to be a great race. It’s a shame it had to get shortened by the track was far too wet, and it was getting dark due to the late start time.

Button drove brilliantly today. Those 2 laps before his first pit stop were just MEGA. That is exactly what Schumacher was so good at doing.

What was also extremely impressive was that move on Alonso. To overtake a cars with KERs (when he didn’t have it himself) was going to take some doing, and he managed it, and then stayed ahead down the straight. It was a very good opportunistic move. He could have ended up being stuck behind Alonso for ages otherwise, just as Raikkonen was.

Overall Button impressed me immensely today. Such a shame there was only half points today because he deserved all 10.

Button is going to take some beating. I see no reason why he can’t get the hat-trick in China.

Still no points for Ferrari though. Two bad calls this weekend. One to not send Massa out for another lap in Q1, and putting inters on Kimi’s car when the track was still dry. It’s ok to gamble when you are in 20th place, but Kimi was running solidly in 5th place.