Congratulations to Nico Rosberg on his first victory and pole! Mercedes looked terrific, and it might have been a one two finish if not for the pit mishap Michael suffered. Interesting season so far, to say the least. Lewis Hamilton is leading the championship with three thirds.
Hope Bahrain goes off without incident next week.
Saw a twitpic on my twitter feed last night of a billboard advertising the F1 race in Bahrain going up in flames. A golf tournament apparently happened without incident this past weekend, but it seems as if the protesters know that the eyes of the World (well, the World save the United States, perhaps) will be on Bahrain this week and will do their best to disrupt things, but perhaps not big enough acts that the regime can say that “terrorists” are responsible. I’m guessing it is going to be a very uncomfortable week for all involved, unfortunately.
First death of a protester was reported today. :eek: Force India looks like they might bail altogether.
I realise Hamilton didn’t do McLaren many favours last year but they certainly seem insistent on getting their own back this time…
A very entertaining race today.
Very much, beginning to end. I was very disappointed that Speed didn’t show the interviews because of Soccer!?! On Speed Channel?
They probably will show them when they repeat the race tomorrow but I’ll go read them now anyway.
Anybody doing the Pirelli online game? I made it to the low 300’s for the first 4 races, despite missing the first round.
Kinda like playing Keno, actually. Mostly random luck the way I see it.
This has been one hell of a season. Five races, five different winners, six different constructors on the podium. The Sebastian Vettel show seems like eons ago.
I predict he takes it again. Note the date of this post! 
Well.
My private prediction that the Red Bull would take pole, based on the car being more agile but with a lower top speed, was almost right. Mark Webber is on pole only because Michael Schumacher carried a five-place penalty from Barcelona.
More interesting, perhaps, is that Pastor Maldonado went from hero to villain in a few seconds in third practice.
This is the second incident of that sort he’s been involved in. I thought he got off too lightly at Spa last year, and maybe this was a case of spare the rod and spoil the up-and-coming driver?
There was also speculation that unnoticed damage may have caused Perez’s Q1 crash that put him at the back of the grid.
That’s exactly what I was thinking when I clicked here.
Should be a very interesting start tomorrow, with Rosberg next to the frequently slow off the line Webber, Hamilton just behind moved onto the clean side and Michael next to Alonso.
He earns pole, he maximizes. I say he takes it tommmmmooooorrrrroooowwww!
Yeah. While Red Bull hasn’t been nearly as dominating in Qualifying this year, IMO they’ve been no less unstoppable on Race Day. Let them start in the front and you’ve got your work cut out for you.
Hey, if I was right all the time, I’m not sure if I could stand myself.
A bit of a slow burner of a race. It only came alive in the last third.
Hamilton was immense today, that’s been coming for while. He loves the track and the strategy was exactly the right call. Having some of the lesser teams on fresher tyres chasing down the Ferrari was great fun.
7 different winners in 7 different races, it is a fascinating season. Very telling that in such a mish-mash we see Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel at the top of the driver’s championship. Wouldn’t it be great to see those three wheel-to-wheel all season?
I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted that podium finish. Seems like Grosjean either crashes on the first lap or finishes near the top. This season has been much more interesting than watching the “Vettel runs away from the field” show.
Absolutely, I really don’t think there is anything to choose between Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel and this season just happens to allow that parity to come to the surface. Makes it very interesting.
Who is in the ascendency now? I have absolutely no idea. We move onto Valencia now which is a very different beast and we could see a shuffling of the pack again. Fun times.
Valencia’s been thoroughly boring so far. Except when Webber and Vettel collided.
Quite, for that reason I’m not a fan of Valencia. Doesn’t feel like a proper street circuit, doesn’t feel like a purpose built track.
If this season’s set-up doesn’t make it exciting then nothing ever will.