Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Button does it again!!!!!



Yet again rain affected the Chinese Grand Prix and yet again the Red Bulls locked out the front row but this year it was a McLaren that crossed the line to take victory in what was a hectic Chinese Grand Prix.

I have to say I'm impressed by Button this year he has got a car that lets him prove his ability as a driver more so than last year and he has also shown us his brilliant skill of being able to judge the conditions as he made another inspired tyre choice.

He was pushed quite a bit towards the end by Hamilton but in the end it was Hamilton's tyres that hindered his push for the win. Mclaren's first one two since 2007 will definitely come as a relief particularly after their disappointing qualifying performance.

Fernando Alonso certainly has had a tough time in the last two races. He retired with a blown engine in Malaysia and another tough race in China. He jumped the start and had to take a penalty for that which meant he had a real fight on his hands to get a good points finish.

  Start of the Chinese Grand Prix

 Mercedes had a mixed race. It was another struggle for Michael Schumacher who had a tough end to the race with worn tyres resulting in him loosing a lot of positions and eventually struggling home in tenth place to scrape a point. Rosberg could well have won the race today and indeed led the race for a considerable amount of time  but a mistake and tyre issues meant he slipped down to third but another podium for Mercedes I'm sure is very welcome. Watch out for them in Spain.

Speaking of which there is speculation that the Spanish Grand Prix may have to be postponed due to the ash from the volcano eruption in Iceland and indeed many of the teams personnel are trapped in China because of the airports being closed. It's not till the ninth of May so there are a few weeks left for the ash to disperse but there could be a situation where the teams may have to go straight to Barcelona and not go back to their bases. This could mean that the scheduled updates for the cars may have to wait till the Monaco Grand Prix.

There is one thing for sure. The 2010 season has definitely improved since Bahrain!! Lets hope it continues into Spain!!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Final two laps of the Austrian Grand Prix

The 2002 Austrian Grand Prix was one of the most controversial grand Prixs of the last ten years. It was the race that proved that Ferrari didn't play fair with their drivers. Rubens Barrichello was only there to back up Michael Schumacher.

Barrichello had dominated the race and would have been a deserved winner but as both of the Ferrari approached the finish line Barrichello moved over and let Schumacher take the victory. Everyone was stunned and the spectators at the track let their feelings out. Jeers and boos rang out around the circuit when the drivers took to the podium.

Schumacher tried some damage control by telling Barrichello to take the top spot on the podium and also he handed him the winners trophy.

Ferrari had really shot themselves in the foot and at the next race the FIA had announced rules that made team orders illegal but the damage had been done. Ironically the only thing Ferrari got reprimanded for was Schumacher's actions on the podium for which they were fined a million dollars.

Years later Barrichello told a Brazilian TV show that he had been told by his team that he would be risking his contract if he didn't move over for Schumacher. At the time Schumacher claimed he had nothing to do with the decision but in the interview Barrichello claimed that he had documents to prove that he had known about the decision.

The incident put the sport, which was already suffering from Ferrari's dominance that year, in a bad light. The backlash from the fans was such that the FIA thought it necessary to act on the incident and change the rules.

I think it really highlighted that Ferrari didn't have the sports interest at heart and were heavily criticized by the rest of the teams.

Lets hope its not an incident that ever happens again!!