grumpyf1

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...

If you're Romain Grosjean or Bruno Senna (which if you are, well... er hello. You may not like this next bit...) you were probably hoping to get the odd chance to go near a Lotus-Renault-Whatever this year, and maybe (if you were extra good) even touch one. In your wildest dreams, the thought probably occurred to you that Petrov might get inexplicably lost and not be seen for a fortnight (which isn't THAT far fetched, really) and you'd get to drive the car for a race. So when Kubica had his rallying incident, you'd forgive them for thinking that this just might be their big chance. Unfortunately for them, no-one else sees it that way. Both have had a chance in F1. Grosjean was massively average, and Senna got trumped by a guy who hadn't driven an F1 car for yonks, when Klien got a go on the HRT merry-go-round. L-R-W have wisely decided to try and get hold of someone half-decent instead. Actually, there aren't many people as good as Kubica, so it's a toug...

He's gone again. Bet you didn't notice. Once more, Nick Heidfeld has slipped out of F1 without anyone bothering to mention it. That annoys me - he may not have had the ultimate pace of some his championship-bagging fellow drivers, but he never managed to be in the right place at the right time either, always seeming to be at teams before they hit their peak, or after they had seem better days. A comeback last season with Sauber once again saw him putting in great performances in an average car, comfortably matching up-and-coming nutcase and major accident waiting to happen Kobayashi, even though Nick hadn't driven the car before he was drafted into the team. The usual winter round of musical chairs have left him once more, without a drive for 2011. And that's a shame. His name will drift off into F1 history as one of the many average drivers who bagged some points, and was around for a long time. And that's not fair. He deserved better. (Still on the Midge...

Good bit of news today. Well, I say good. Good if you're Nick Heidfeld. Not very good at all if you're Pedro de la Rosa. Heidfeld has been twiddling his thumbs this season whilst being Mercedes Test Driver, which in real terms means he's done rugger ball since the start of the year except for wearing headphone at races and generally looking as cool as possible without actually being in an F1 car. A bit of excitement (not to mention a bit of driving and some dosh probably) came his way recently when new-for-next-year tyre suppliers Pirelli wanted someone to drive the completed Toyota that didn't get a run this year with their new rubber on the corners, to see how it all went. It's unclear if this helped him get the seat at Sauber for the rest of the year, if it was his undoubted talent, the fact that he's driven for them before or (and this seems most likely) because Pedro de la Rosa was a bit crap. Kobayashi has substantially outperformed him this season, ...

You probably thought of him as the hirsute German chappy with bad taste in sunglasses, but I always though Nick Heidfeld was a darn good driver. He never managed to be in the right car at the right time though, and was always just "the other German driver" during Schumi's reign. Who knows? Had he been at Brawn last year, he may well have given Jenson a run for him money. It seems he will shortly be announced at Mercedes Test Driver, usually shorthand for "my career is over, no good teams want me as driver, I might as well rake up a few quid and hope I get a another pop sometime". Ironically, it was Schumacher's return that probably prevented him from getting the drive beside Rosberg. Pity that - I think it would have been quite revealing... (Tune tonight - Genesis, "The Brazillian (Live)".)