Canada Update

OK let’s get into this, I’ve been holding off on updating the blog for far far too long, poor little Holly is about to have an apoplexy. Basically I’ve been trying to hold out until I got an IT job but now after over 6 months I guess I better bite the bullet & update regardless.

So…Williams seem to be doing better after Turkey but this weekend at the last Silverstone race (I’ve been there) will be a real test, where hopefully Nakajima can do a bit better as well. I’m still not sure about him, maybe it’s a broad generalisation but he seems quite similar to Sato in that they both have moments of brilliance but more often than not ruins them by hitting things, like walls or other drivers. I really hope that at the end of the year we’re not reduced to tears by the vast amounts of missed chances Williams have squandered already this season.

Here’s hoping Button can make the last entry on the Silverstone roll of honour an English name, but I must admit a substantial part of me wishes the Michael Schumacher shadow riders, Barrichello & Massa had better luck after all those years behind the big man. In Barrichello’s case there is no one to blame but himself, up until now he would have been given at least the same car as Button if not a better one (Reading between the lines of several interviews with Brawn it sounds like he really didn’t rate Button until his drive at Bahrain this year) I think now that if Brawn needs to (And it’s not like Button had been behind Barrichello at any time in a race this year) they will have to start using Barrichello as a 2^nd driver.

At the moment it’s not looking like that’s going to be required anyway. (Yes I know it’s not even ½ way into the season yet hence the “At the moment”) It doesn’t seem that the aero upgrade Red Bull bought to Barcelona had the desired effect and they still don’t quite have the legs on Brawn, plus Vettel looks like he suffers from some Schumacher-isk crumbling under pressure. (Yeah I know I’m all about the broad generalisations these days) That could just be inexperience but when you put it together with Webber’s turnaround in his infamous bad luck & his continued recovery from his broken leg RBR’s driver war could easily not allow either of them to fight for the championship.

It seems that if you even had a look at the championship last year you’re destined to be a midfield/back marker this year. Both McLaren & Ferrari had a horrible start to the year with McLaren seeming to get back on track faster but then falling back again. Ferrari took a bit longer to come back but seem to be holding it together better now that they are back (Still with a fair way to go before they’re on the top again.) One wonders if Ferrari’s poor start hasn’t had some bearing on the continuing FIA vs. FOTA drama and whether it wouldn’t be better just to put Max Mosley & Stefano Domenicali into a pair of man-kinis and throw them in a paddling pool of baby oil to sort out their differences…or maybe knowing Max’s tastes a paddling pool of thumb tacks (Sorry Max, low blow)

Of last year’s leaders the guy you really have to feel sorry for is Kubica. The poor guy gave up last year’s chase with the promise that he would be leading this year and has only just scored his first points. Has anyone else noticed how Dr Mario Theissen is always wearing those over sided sunglasses these days…The official line is that he keeps walking into doors and then falling down stairs.

So by popular request I’m republishing the F1 Spreadsheets

If you can’t see a fastest lap for a race it’s because fastest was also the pole sitter.

Both Williams & Renault are finding that you need two drivers if you want to do well in the constructors

I like using this for judging how the midfield/backmarkers are doing against each other.

Nakajima really needs to convert his reasonable qualifying performances into finishes and then points!

After a conversation with Craig a couple of years ago, last year I started recording my race predictions after qualifying on Saturday.

Last year I think I did quite well, predicting 7 race wins & even getting the trifecta at China.

I seem to be doing even better this year with 6 winners out of 7 races & the trifecta at Monaco…But really how hard is it to bet on Button?