Webber Hungary for a win

Hungarian GP - Qualifying

Just a week after Alonso's - ahem - win in Germany, the F1 circus rolled into Hungary and whilst the Amazing Red Bull Boys dazzled with their speed, McLaren were the team wearing the brightly coloured baggy trousers and with the comedy car. Vettel was a vast 1.8 seconds faster than Hamilton in 5th, and shared the front row with Webber. Alonso and Massa were next best in the Ferraris, with Rosberg 6th, Petrov impressively out-qualifying Kubica in a potentially career-saving move, and De La Rosa and Hulkenberg rounding out the top 10. Button was out in Q2, managing only 11th, whilst Schumi was down in 14th.

Red Bull's amusingly bouncy front wing once again passed scrutineering, although you can bet there will be a rule "clarification" along soon that will put an end to that. It can't come quick enough for the other teams.

Race

"OK Michael. Rubens is faster than you. Please confirm that you will try and smear him down the pit wall."

It was Happy Anniversary Sunday at Red Bull. The team's 100th race, and Webber's 150th. On paper, you'd have put Vettel down for the win, and it looked to be heading that way from the start until the intervention of the Safety Car for a chunk of someones front wing to be collected. Whilst most people dived for the pits, Webber and Barrichello carried on. In the pit lane, silly season erupted. At almost the same time, Kubica's Renault exited as Sutil's Force India tried to get into his slot, resulting in busted cars that seemed reluctant to part company and some jolly angry mechanics. Not far away, someone forgot to actually attach Rosberg's wheel and as he accelerated away is headed off into the pit crew's zone, before bouncing high in the air after being tackled by a (clearly insane) Williams mechanic.

As the Safety Car pulled in, Webber seemed to have a big margin to Vettel. Too big in fact. Vettel was handed a drive-through penalty for falling too far behind Webber and made his feeling known with some interesting shadow-puppetry hand symbols as he passed through the pit lane.

Kubica was handed a 10 second stop/go for colliding with the Force India - seeing as he was already at the back of the field, he called it a day not long after.

Hamilton was next to surprise, when his McLaren conked out on lap 25. Up front, Webber had the tricky task of trying to pull away from Alonso and a seething Vettel by a big enough margin to pit for tyres and still emerge in the lead. Some stonking driving allowed him to do it though, and thereafter he was untouchable, even radioing his team to say "That feels good" when he lapped Schumacher.

Rubens finally stopped late in the race for his tyre change, and being out on new soft tyres he rapidly reeled in Schumacher in 10th place, before finally diving down the inside along the pit straight. Suddenly it was like the arsey Schumi we all remembered from his dubious moves on Hill, Villeneuve and just about anyone else in a car, had never been away, as he attempted to push Barrichello into the pit wall. Rubens kept his boot in though, and after rearranging the grass at the edge of the track he was through. Mikey will be 10 places further down the grid next race for his somewhat uncooperative manoeuvre.

So Webber won from Alonso and Vettel (who had a face like a smacked arse on the podium), Massa, Petrov, Hulkenberg, Del La Rosa, Button, Kobayashi (all the way from 23rd on the grid!) and Barrichello.

I got the impression Seb wasn't best pleased with it all and was complaining about his radio not working. In the F1 world of coded messages, maybe what he was trying to cover up was the fact that he got it wrong, allowing his team-mate to win and lead the championship going into F1's summer break...

(Sheryl Crow is 2 nights early with her Tuesday Night Music Club)

A fisful of change at the shops

A recent day out reminded me how much the retail experience has altered during my lifetime – and it’s not all good. I could stop typing this, and buy a fridge, in a matter of seconds. The shops are shut and it’s 9pm, but I could still place the order and arrange delivery. I haven’t got to wander round a white-goods retail emporium trying to work out which slightly different version of something that keeps my cider cold is better. It’ll be cheaper, too. But in amongst the convenience, endless choice and bargains, we’ve lost some of the personal, human, touches that used to make a trip to the shops something more than just a daily chore. Last weekend, we visited a local coastal town. Amongst the shops selling over-priced imported home accessories (who doesn’t need another roughly-hewn wooden heart, poorly painted and a bargain at £10?) was one that looked different. It’s window allowed you to see in, rather than being plastered with stick-on graphics and special offers calling ...

Malaysian Grand Prix - Vettel hot, but not bothered

Malaysia. It's always hot, and it always rains. Except the 2nd part is no longer true (unless you count the drizzly bit around lap 14). Saturday's qualifying session had highlighted the fact that Red Bull and McLaren seemed well matched on pace, but also that Ferrari were struggling. Whilst Vettel bagged another pole, followed by Hamilton, Webber and Button, Alonso was only 5th, and Massa 7th, with Nick Heidfeld an excellent 6th on the grid between the two red cars. At this point, I would like to break momentarily for a small rant: How many times do I have to say Heidfeld is good? Why wasn't he given a top drive years ago? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! ARE YOU BLIND!!!?? Ahem. The Hispanias somehow managed to a) turn up b) remember to bring cars c) get both of them on the track d) actually get both of them within 107%. Pretty remarkable really. Oh, and it didn't rain. Race day looked a more likely candidate for a drop of the wet stuff. The start was exciting, with...

"It's all gone quiet..." said Roobarb

If, like me, you grew up (and I’m aware of the irony in that) in the ‘70s, February was a tough month, with the sad news that Richard Briers and Bob Godfrey had died. Briers had a distinguished acting career and is, quite rightly, fondly remembered most for his character in ‘The Good Life’. Amongst his many roles, both serious and comedic, he also lent his voice to a startling bit of animation that burst it’s wobbly way on to our wooden-box-surrounded screens in 1974. The 1970s seemed to be largely hued in varying shades of beige, with hints of mustard yellow and burnt orange, and colour TV was a relatively new experience still, so the animated adventures of a daft dog and caustic cat who were the shades of dayglo green and pink normally reserved for highlighter pens, must have been a bit of a shock to the eyes at the time. It caused mine to open very wide indeed. Roobarb was written by Grange Calveley, and brought vividly into life by Godfrey, whose strange, shaky-looking sty...

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