Astonishing drive by Max Verstappen

I wouldn't say I called it but after I heard that it would be raining all day I expected a great race from Max Verstappen. On a little betting game at a small motorsport forum I even bet Verstappen for the victory. And I wasn't too far of!

In fact if they hadn't make the call to change for Intermediate tyres only to change back to Full Wets it's fair to assume that the young Dutchman would have had a chance to fight Hamilton for the victory.

After that pit stop he fell back to around 14th position and made that stunning drive back. He passed guys like Vettel, Hulkenberg, Sainz and finally Perez to finish third just after the two Mercedes. At that moment many thought what could have been. 

But the Red Bull driver wasn't fussing around - for him the result felt like a victory. He would even compare it with his first race win in Barcelona at the beginning of the year.

And even at earlier stages of the race he showed his ambitions for that race: Passing Raikkönen as soon as the Safety Car was in. Later another pass on Rosberg on an alternate line after the Senna-S.

He was criticised on many occasion during that season - mostly I couldn't agree. In fact I don't like this whole new 'moving-under-braking' debate and the new rule which was introduced for the US Grand Prix. That's something where I hope it's going to be banned. Hearing opinions from Marko and Lauda today they have a similar opinion.

Anyway: Max was able to show his skills in a proper wet race today and got lots of Brazilian fans. And the way he was avoided a crash into the final corner where Ericsson and Massa weren't lucky to escape was perfect car control.

So Max, keep doing what you're doing and hopefully the next years championship is yours!

About the new failed Qualifying in Melbourne

The first race wasn't even started and we already experienced an embarassing situation by a failed introduction of a new Qualifying mode.

I don't know why it was even changed, but my first thought was: 'Ok, let's see how it goes.' Especially during the last week were lots of discussions about the necessity for that system.

And today was the day many were exciting how the whole system would work in real. It started with Q1 and you couldn't see a counter on the screen which should show by what time a driver is eliminated. So Pascal Wehrlein was already out and many didn't notice. It took almost to the end of the session get a specific timer on the screen.

By then it gave me the impression many driver or teams didn't notice that they were too late. In case of Haas and Manor we know they misjudged the whole situation.

At the end of Q2 both Force India waited to save P9 and P10. And in Q3 it got boring: As soon as Verstappen sensationally secured P5, only the Mercedes tried a little battle for Pole Position, but the result was clear four minutes before the time was over.

But the end of the Qualifying there should be a showdown. The best drivers fighting for the best position. In the current scenario this scenario would work with only two drivers. And these two drivers should have some tyres left. But if not, nobody goes for a run.

Almost nobody - except Kimi who doesn't care - was not complaining about the new system. While discussions are already going on to change it back for Bahrain, many people in Social Media have their own ideas like:

• a usual Qualifying - than reverse grid - and then one chance for a hot lap to change that
• getting back the system which was used until 2002
• only change Q3 back to the old system
• extra tyres only for Qualifying
• and so on...

Let's see what happens. It's clear that things will change and probably back to the last year's system. Anyway, this whole scenario was embarrasing: First saying we introduce the elimination Qualifying (and this was by the end of February/begin March), then no - software won't be ready until Australia, will start in May for the Spanish GP, then no, will start in Australia, no problem with the software.

And now the whole thing is going to change again. They can do better. Such ideas should be thought through and should have acceptance by the mayority. Many drivers disagreed before, many fans complained even before... All this at short notice forced through.

Ok, enough complained. They'll fix it. Hopefully.

A tribute to Pastor Maldonado

Maldonado after his Friday practice crash in Spa 2015

Pastor Maldonado is not going to be on the grid in the upcoming Australian GP. Time to look back at his five year F1 journey with his highlights and bad moments.

I didn't follow GP2 that much so I didn't know too much about him when he arrived at Williams in 2011 after being GP2 champion.

At first, he was the one who forced Nico Hülkenberg out of his Williams cockpit. The main reason: His big sponsorship from Venezuela.

But then came the race in Monaco 2011: There was a crash between Hamilton, Petrov and Buemi which caused a red flag just a few laps before the end of the race. And Maldonado made it up to P6 in an inferior Williams. That was the first time I really noticed him. I also felt bad for him after the race was restarted and Hamilton pushed him out in the first corner. There were lots of points possible for him and when you look at the standings of that season: He only scored one point in the whole season!

In the next season it looked a lot better for Williams. The car was much faster and also very competitive on some occasions due to the Pirelli tyres which caused lots of different scenarios in 2012. But Maldonado also threw away many points in that season - starting with the first race where he crashed into a wall while following Alonso.

But his highlight was clearly the Grand Prix of Spain in Barcelona. He inherited the Pole Position from Hamilton and won the race there ahead a certain Fernando Alonso. But the thing is we never saw such moments of glory again. In the following race in Monaco he faced reality: He caused a crash with Perez in Qualifying and didn't even make the first lap because he ran into a HRT, damaged his front wing and stopped on track.

In the following eight races he also wouldn't score any more points at all. Maybe worth to mention: In Spa Maldonado was qualified at sixth position, but after a jump start he got innocently involved in the big crash caused by Romain Grosjean.

Later in the season he scored a few further points, but there was a lot more possible throughout 2012. And by that time he became the victim of many jokes especially with pictures in social media. Things like 'Maldonado arrived in Monaco' with a crashed boat or even websites like hasmaldonadocrashedtoday.com.

In 2013 he only scored one point with another inferior Williams. I remember being at the race in Spa where he managed to crash into both Force Indias in the final chicane. And then he made a bad choice in terms of competitiveness for the 2014 season.

He switched to Lotus which were strong by the end of 2013, but they fell far behind. And Williams became really strong with their new Mercedes engines. Maldonado only scored two points and seemed to be obligated to entertain the audience with incidents. The heaviest one was clearly the crash with Esteban Gutierrez in Bahrain which caused a somersault of the Sauber.

In 2015 Lotus switched to Mercedes engines which made them stronger than in the previous year. But Maldonado was especially in the first half of the season involved in many incidents, but in the end of the season he even showed some consistency. He managed to score points in four out of five races - something he never did in Formula One before.

At the free practice session on Friday in Belgium I was pretty close where he crashed into the wall. I saw people running and I followed them. There was a crashed Lotus and it seemed that it could only be him...

His last race was in Abu Dhabi where Alonso crashed into him. That time he had no fault, but that was it. It was planned to continue in 2016 to race for the renamed Renault team, but financial problems of his sponsor forced him out of the cockpit. He plans to return in 2017.

Conclusion

Many people say he shouldn't be in Formula One and that he is just a paydriver. But from the fan point of view he is a great entertainer. In races where a Mercedes or Red Bull were superior in the lead we knew that Maldonado is still in the race and anything can happen.

And of course he's fast, he showed it with his only win in 2012. He managed something others will take years without achieving that.

But there's this lack of consistency, he got involved in many incidents and received lots of penalties. That's what made him a great character in Formula One - and not only by having this reputation.

Let's hope we see him return next or even within this season.

Korea 2010 - Red Bulls low point

Do you remember the first F1 race in Korea? It was surely the toughest one there at all.
After heavy rain the race was suspended only after three laps behind the Safety Car. The visibility was simply too bad.
Fernando Alonso told in team radio: "That was the worst condition I ever drove a car."
After a break of an hour the race was started again - but still behind the Safety Car.
While many drivers were still complaining about the visibility, Lewis Hamilton told via team  many times that wanted to race. Then, after a few laps the Safety Car finally came in after 17 laps of deployment.
But only after two corners Hamilton was overtaken by Nico Rosberg who started to close the gap to Alonso.
Unfortunately only one lap later the championship leader Mark Webber at second place lost the control of his car and crashed into the wall and Nico Rosberg couldn't avoid the collision with the Red Bull.
Both drivers had to retire and the Safety Car was deployed.
Rosberg later claimed that he would have been able to win that race - but we will never know.
So Vettel kept his lead for many laps. After another Safety Car deployment because of a crash with two backmarkers Vitali Petrow crashed out of the final corner.
The crash of Russian driver didn't cause a Safety Car, but at least a yellow flag in that corner.
At that time it became gradually darker because of the sunset.
Vettel started to complain that he could not see the braking point anymore while Hamilton told the team that the "visibility is fine". Red Bull obviously tried to force a red flag to save the victory.
But that didn't work and shortly after that Vettel got passed by Alonso and then the German had to retire with an engine failure at the long straight.
Fernando Alonso inherited the victory and took the lead of the championship.
Red Bull Racing were at their low point,but - as we now know - that couldn't stop them...

Will Barrichello return to Formula One?

Many rumours about a return of the Brazilian racing driver Rubens Barrichello occured in the last few days. Obviously the ex-Ferrari driver is interested to race for Sauber next season which would make him a big contender for his compatriot Felipe Massa.
Massa is also seeking seeking a cockpit after it was announced that his former team-mate Kimi Raikkönen will replace him to join Fernando Alonso next season. The vacant place at Lotus could be an option, but Nico Hülkenberg seems to have a better chance of getting the seat.

So Sauber would be the second choice for the current Ferrari driver.
Brazilian media reports that Barrichello would bring a two-digit-million dollar amount to Sauber.
Another rumour is that he could even drive at the Brazilian Grand Prix this season for the Swiss team.

He sometimes mentioned that he wants to have "a last race" where he will know if it's the last one.
Williams didn't give him that chance in 2011...

Half season review - Part 2 - Testgate and Punctures

After the Monaco Grand Prix followed a big discussion if this tyre test in Barcelona was legal or not. Red Bull and Ferrari protested these topic before the race and FIA had to investigate what is going to happen. It also was THE TOPIC at the following Canadian Grand Prix...

Beside the politics the teams and drivers had to face the race in the Montreal. In the rainy qualifying Valtteri Bottas surprisingly managed it to be 3rd. Vettel took the pole ahead of Hamilton.

The German was also able to win a superior race for the first time - even with a few mistakes like missing the braking point into Turn 1. Alonso came from behind and beat Hamilton with a nice overtaking move at the start-finish straight and finally finished second.

Unfortunately a marshal died while recovering a crashed Sauber car.

Ahead of the next Grand Prix Mercedes and Pirelli had to go to court. In the end Mercedes and Pirelli were reprimanded and the German team was suspended from the Young Driver Test (YDT) in July.

The following British Grand Prix showed us that they should argue if a tyre test is legal, more that such a test is necessary.

Hamilton was leading the first couple of laps and than suddenly his left rear tyre was destroyed. He lost his lead, returned into the pit lane to get a new tyre and found himself back at the end of the field.

Massa who had another strong start and gained a lot of positions also became a victim. He lost control in the middle of a corner and spun.

After another tyre failure of Jean-Eric Vergne Charlie Whiting decided to deploy the Safety Car.

All drivers were ordered to avoid using the kerbs to prevent further tyre problems.

At this time Vettel was leading the race ahead of Nico Rosberg. But the German had to stop because of a gearbox failure and caused the next Safety Car deployment. Most of the cars made another pit stop for the final laps at that time.
Shortly after the Safety Car came in Perez got a tyre failure and the parts of the rubber almost hit Fernando Alonsos head who was attacking him.
Mark Webber came closer and closer to Rosberg but he would have needed a few more laps.
The German driver won his second race of the season.

Apart from all these tyre issues announced Mark Webber before the British Grand Prix his retirement at the end of the season. That was the start of the Silly Season....

Half season review - Part 1 - From Multi21 to "Testgate"

We have seen a first half of a season with many twist and turns - but still with Red Bull and current world champion Sebastian Vettel in the lead. Let's take a look back what has happened so far.

The season began as usual in Melbourne, Australia and we saw Red Bull, Ferrari and Lotus very strong, also Mercedes and Force India seemed competitive. McLaren hadn't only lost Lewis Hamilton, also their competitiveness. Also Sauber wasn't as strong as in 2012.

The race itself ended with a winner who didn't need to overtake someone on the track to win. 
Kimi Raikkönen simply won with one stop less than Alonso and Vettel.

In the second race in Malaysia we have had the first controversy of the season. After the last pit stops of the race we saw both Red Bulls very close together, but Mark Webber in front.
Because of uncertainty about the stability of the tyres both drivers were ordered to keep their positions with the now famous command Multi21.
Webber turned the engine down, but Vettel continued trying to pass Webber. He ignored the order and passed Webber in a battle through the first sector. Vettel later excused for disobeying the team order, but weeks later he turned back that he Webber hadn't really helped him in the past.

Also Mercedes had a similar issue in the race, but Rosberg obeyed the order and didn't pass Hamilton ahead and stayed at the fourth position.

In the following we saw Mercedes very strong in the qualifying in China. Lewis Hamilton took his first Pole Position for his new team. Later in the race he saved the third position and Fernando Alonso won his first race of the season.

We came to Bahrain and we saw another Pole Position for Mercedes - this time it was Rosberg. But that was the only highlight for Mercedes that weekend. In the race the German lost many positions in the first stint - he struggled with the tyres in the heat. Vettel eventually won the race ahead of both Lotus which came from bad grid positions from behind.


Then we came back to Europe and Nico Rosberg achieved another Pole Position. Lewis Hamilton completed the silver first row with the second place. But in the race it looked like in Bahrain. Both Mercedes lost positions, Hamilton don't even got any points. Nico Rosberg was able to lead longer than in Bahrain but still just scored a few points. Fernando Alonso finally won his home race ahead of Kimi Raikkönen.

Two weeks later the legendary Monaco Grand Prix took place. Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton filled the first row once again. 
The race had some moments: First, Felipe Massa made the same crash into Turn 1 as the day before in the qualifying. It followed the first Safety Car deployment of the year.
Lewis Hamilton let a too big gap between him and the leading Rosberg and lost his second place at the pits. Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber overtook him this way.
Some laps later a crash between Max Chilton and Pastor Maldonado caused a red flag, because there pushed a barrier at the track.
Sergio Perez who gained a position from Fernando Alonso before the restart because the Spaniard cut the chicane had later an intense fight with Raikkönen. 
The Mexican tried several times to pass the Finn at the chicane, Raikkönen always covered his position until one optimistic move from Perez where both clashed. 
Raikkönen got a puncture, dropped back out of the points. Perez had to give up because he destroyed his brakes.
But the Finn came back, overtook in the last laps both Sauber and his compatriot Bottas and at least scored one point for 10th place.

Rosberg eventually won the Monaco Grand Prix, 30 years after his father Keke.

But the victory had negative connotation because the information that Mercedes conducted a Pirelli tyre test with 2013 cars after the Barcelona race became public...