Spanish Grand Prix - Everything changes and then stays the same

It was an interesting couple of weeks in F1-land as we headed off to the normally rather dull Spanish Grand Prix.

Alonso failed to spot that his contract said 2016 and signed it (he probably thought it said £2016 Million) and Sutil apparently got into "racing incident" with a chap named after some soap and duffed him up a bit in a nightclub, which I'm sure lifted his mood no end, and took his mind of the fact that di Resta is making him look decidedly average so far this season.

As the practice sessions got underway it turned out that someone at Pirelli had inadvertently added a extra bucket of 'slow' to the hard tyre, and Heidfeld calmly said "fire" on the radio whilst his elbow and half the car caught fire, keeping him out of quali whilst Renault scraped the black bits off the car.

Qualifying saw Crikey Heikki through to Q2, although possibly because the Force India team decided not to use the softer tyres, preferring to keep them for the race. Vettel once again seemed to have no KERS, and an unfortunate side-effect of the rapidly-fading tyres that have improved the racing showed up again, as it was all over in Q3 after 1 run and with 5 minutes to go. Red Bull at the front again, but surprisingly it wasn't Seb, but a startled looking Webber up front. Alonso seemed remarkably pleased with 4th, but maybe he was just remembering the £'s on his contract again...

On race day, Mark got his customary average start underway and was promptly passed by Seb, when much to their (and let's face it our) surprise, the surly Spanish one flung his motor up the inside in front of the home crowd to take the lead. Cue a massive amount of celebration from the entirely unbiased crowd.

Button had apparently set off in the wrong direction and was down to 10th, whilst Heidfeld took a look at the 23 cars in front of him as the lights went out and thought "Top ten finish? Why not..."

Vettel pitted first for tyres, but with multiple stops and copious amounts of strategy coming into play, the fact that he rejoined behind other cars didn't really matter. By lap 18, Alonso, Vettel, Webber and Hamilton were within a couple of seconds of each other. Good pit work by Seb's crew saw him take the lead by Lap 26 with Hamilton in pursuit, with Alonso getting released into the path of Webber, but without a penalty.

The DRS zone seemed unable to provide the overtaking overdose seen recently, and the race was all the better for it as proper hard racing ensued, with great scraps between Webber and Alonso as the Ferrari faded and Button taking the pair of then in the space of a lap.

A lack of decent tyres that could go the distance saw Alonso fall even further behind as he donned a second set of hard tyres. Kovaleinen proved good qualifying can't remove the jinx of the circuit for him and he crashed out, whilst Vettel and Hamilton were out front with 11 laps left and Seb's KERS playing up big time.

A brilliantly intense scap ensued but Lewis couldn't find a way past, and the pair finished just 0.6 seconds apart to give Seb (who produced a deeply annoying Crazy Frog victory noise after he passed the flag, proving once again that Germans cannot be trusted in the 'cool' stakes) his 4th victory in 5 races, and a hefty lead in the championship. Button's different tyre strategy saw his salvage a tidy podium place whilst Webber's chance to take back the initiative resulted in quite the opposite as he trailed home 4th. Alonso was 5th, but lapped (no doubt giving him an interesting few moments in which to contemplate a contract lasting 5 more years) and Schumi finally beat Rosberg.

Heidfeld? Yup, he came through for 8th place, having caught the two Mercs up by 15 seconds in the last 8 laps. He was right behind them too, so another lap or two could have seen him even higher. Fresh tyres you see?

In 2011, it's all about the tyres...

(Top tuneage for creating this post provided by Peter Gabriel. His unique album naming style means I can only tell you it's the one sometimes referred to as 'scratch' from 1978)

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...

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 ...

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