Korean Grand Prix

Hello, back with another musing on Motorsport's top tier.

This time, for the first time for me I get to look at a new circuit for the first time: The Building site looking, damp, oily, sligtly mental 3.5 mile Korean International Circuit.

To start off with the track itself is good for entertainment. Overtaking chances, places ready to catch out those not paying attention and a couple of genuinely challenging sections such as the bump on pit entry and the barrier's at turn 18. However despite the generally positive feedback we don't know what a race in the dry could end up. It could still be a good one or it could turn into a Tilke bore track which would be sad considering the spectacle we were given in this event.

Despite the stupidly delayed starting the race had many talking points, including Webber's spin:

It was unfortunate for him to have the spin, and doubly unfortunate to take up the quick looking Merc of Nico Rosberg. His momentum has gone and the last chance i think Mark Webber has of winning the world title is an Alonso DNF at either of the last two races. Then there was Button's poor race, losing all his confidence after the graceful, text book overtake of 'The Silver Baron' Michael Schumacher and was unlucky to drop to 17th after his stop but after a poor attempt to come back, via being pushed off the road by Sutil and spinning in the last few laps he has near as damnit lost his chance of retaining his championship.

Then we come to Vettel. He drove a nearly perfect race, holding of Alonso's Ferrari and Hamilton's Mclaren until a moment where there was another one of Brundle's all important game changing soundbites, 'Something sounds sick out there', and the huge failure of his Renault V10. This has saved a bit of face for Webber and now leads Red Bull (and based on Button's race Mclaren) to think about making the decison to make Vettel and Button No.2 drivers to help Webber and Hamilton in the fight against the one man team which Alonso has with Ferrari. There was a great picture of Vettel walking through the pit lane and went through Renault's pit box. I would like to think that he was saying something along the lines of this:

'OH MY GOD YOU B*******!!! WHY HAVE YOU SOLD MY TEAM THAT PIECE OF S**T YOU CALL AN ENGINE YOU HALF-WITTED W***ERS. CHRISTIAN, KILL SOMEONE AT RENAULT!!!!'

Perhaps.

Speaking of Hamilton he was never going to win the race. He was marmalising the Mclaren in order to keep up with Alonso and Vettel all race after Webber's accident and despite coming up into second at the last safety car thanks to Alonso's wheel nut he would not have won the race based on the way he lost pace towards the end of the race. However he did well overall minus that slip and brought himself back into the picture for the title. Then we move onto to my least favourite contender. Fernando Alonso drove a faultless race and was in the perfect place to capitalise on the sick Renault engine to put himself at the head of the title race with the momentum to become the favourite and maybe, in 3-4 weeks the 2010 World Formula One Champion.

Other noteable drivers (for better or worse) come from various sources:

Michael Schumacher came from under the radar on 9th on the grid to finish nicely in 4th, his joint best finish of the season and solidifying a return to form, which bodes well with Rosberg driving his best and maybe a better car to challenge for wins again. It may not be quite the full fat Michael Schumacher that dominated the sport for 12 years but it is a driver regining his mojo and thinking well (if his study of the racing lines behind the safety car while lining up Kubica and Button is anything to go by) we will have a committed, hopefully faster Schumacher taking the Silver Arrow back to the front.

Liuzzi stayed out of trouble while his teammate (more on him later) hit everything in sight. His 6th place might go some way to saving his carrear if Nick Heidfeld is on the market and problem with Williams second seat.

Kubica's 5th was lucky (much like his P2 at Australia) but then again shows his ability to keep his car on the road with pace while all around him is completely insane. BBC F1 collumist Mark Davies recently wrote an article in which he seriously put forward the idea that Robert Kubica is the best driver in F1. I agree to an extent and am one of the biggest believers of the theory that give the bumblebee (my nickname for him in the Renault) a car that has a whiff of the title he will go ahead and do it.

Sutil did a very stupid thing by not saying he had a brake issue in the race. It lead to some daring moves (largely on the Sauber's and the brutal move on Button) and a hairy accident with Kobayashi. The gird penalty and the 5 place grid drop was the best thing that could have happened and it is an unfortunate race for a driver who I rate very highly and should either join Renault with Kubica or be with Nick Heidfeld in Force India dragging that team closer to Renault and Mercedes.

Buemi did not have a great race either but the focus of his stupidity was the new teams. Accidents with both Kovalinen's Lotus and Glock's Virgin also earned him a 5 place grid drop along with Sutil which was deserved because he was being an idiot with those two moves and Kovalinen was lucky to get to the end, being taking his customary place at the head of the new teams war. In my view Kovalinen has earned a drive at a better team but he is probably going to stay at the Renault engined Lotus next year and credit to him for wanting to take the team forward along with Glock and Virgin.

Coming up is Brazil, on the Interlagos track which never fails to provide tension since Schumacher's chase in 2006. A terrible but atmospheric paddock and a track as old school as it gets we're looking to see a good race that I predict will lead to a 1 on 1 fight in the championsip between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso for the world title. Which will be appropriate seeing as in the top 3 teams they are the 2 best drivers.

Next up, a review of Iron Maiden's new album, my long overdue blog on why Jeff Hardy is a better Heel than John Cena and more on the F1 title picture before the Brazlian Grand Prix but before I go i'll leave you with another one of my thoughts:

Massa is coming home, for the first time in a car since he nearly won the World Champion after a strong performance he has always been good at Interlagos and that Ferrari is genuinely a quick car.

Ciao

Nick

I'm back

Hello ladies and Gentlemen.

Yes I have a new blog. Over summer 2 festivals, becoming a godfather and gaining closure on something very prominent in my brain has sent me rather mad so right now this one is going to be about what I am thinking and how things are for me at this point in my life. Stay still as this could be a bumpy ride.

First off on the music side I went to the small 2000 trees festival in Cheltenham and saw 4 particularly great performances, Frank Turner, Sonic Boom Six, the opening band on the final day (can't remember the name) and The Subways. Considering they were acts I didn't know a lot about in terms of depth of material before I was happy to see them. Frank Turner has epic presence and is one of the best folk based acts I've ever come across. Sonic Boom Six don;t do the kind of music I normally like but I love the song 'Meanwhile in the real World' as it is catchy, groovy and at points super heavy as well. The opening act on the Saturday did not have a big crowd but did have good songs and nice presence on top of the nice touch of multiple vocalists all of which were largely quite good. The Subways started off a little slow but Girls and Boys and Rock and Roll Queen were especially awesome in a good spot in terms of being towards the front and made the set good on the whole. But the whole weekend was made by one Kate Byard who found me, helped me set my tent up and made the weekend on the whole generally better for just being there so thank you :).

Next up was Warrior Dance festival i.e the big Prodigy gig at the Milton Keynes bowl. Me and Tom went to that and had a blast. Does It Offend You Yeah opened up nicely with some nice songs but I didn't feel much presence wise but they let the music do the talking and the bassist was female and attractive and me and Lucas Murrin met her just before Chase and Status and she was cool and we got a picture and everything. Chase and Status disapointed me greatly. The only songs I really got into were the Rock Dubstep track 'Heartbeat' and the epic D'n'B number 'Pieces' which did feature Plan B.

Enter Shikari were up next and they did a set of mainly newer songs but included tracks like 'No Swwweat' and 'Stand Your Ground' which followed into their song of the day, the savagely heavy 'Enter Shikari'. Then came quite a long wait and a DJ set by Zane Lowe which did not impress me. What did impress me was Pendulum. A band who I think are better than the headliners and put on a superb set including the live debut of Immersion's 'The Vulture' and a very heavy version of 'Fasten Your Seatbelts'. One disappointment was the technical malfunctions during 'Slam'. Unfortunately we missed a lot of Prodigy's set before the journey home but not before great versions of 'Poison', 'Invaders Must Die' and 'Omen'. Overall it was a great gig but next week and then came Sonisphere, the thing I was most looking forward to.

Delain opened the festival and their brand of Operatic Metal was hit and miss with the crowd as a whole but hit a chord with me personally and they played a very good set. Gary Numan and Europe suprised me with how their set's went. After a fun and painful set by Turisas the songs. 'My Friends Are Electric' and 'Last Look at Eden in particular were stunning while the popular choices 'Cars' and 'Final Countdown' were actually really disappointing. Alice Cooper picked the pace with a great theatrical performance of classics like 'School's Out', 'Poison' 'I wanna be elected and a mega performance of recent single 'Vengence Is Mine'. Only Cooper could pull off playing a set where he dies 4 times and kills a nurse and a baby.

The first full day arrived with stand out sets by Lacuna Coil, goregeoous Cristina Scabbia in tow, Anthrax with a fun set, including the first 2 verses of 'Heaven and Hell' as a great Dio tribute. A heroes welcome for Essex based emo band INME, Apololyptica with thier cello's and a great cover of Master Of Puppets. and (perhaps the most out of place of the weekend) Placebo. Rammstein followed with their brand of epic German Industrial Metal which included a simply amazing versions of 'Sonne' and 'Kiene Lust'. That had replaced Pendulum's set last week as the best set i've ever seen.

The Sunday was however a truly stunning day. Starting with CKY playing a set based on Nostalgia with great versions of '96 Quite Bitter Beings' and 'Flesh Into Gear'. Followed by a stunning set by Skindred there was Slayer and a set of typical nostalgia and pre mid 90's songs. Most impressive of which was 'Dead Skin Mask'. Alice In Chain i have no doubt are a great band with Jerry Catrell being a legend of Alternate Music but their set left me cold as they played slower set than almost any other band of the weekend and I personally used it as an example to move forward for what was to follow.

Following them came an agonising choice of Fightstar and Pendulum, both bands i've seen live before and both whom i loved. I stuck with Pendulum and was so happy. Opening with 'Crush' gave me the idea to get on the swooping camera which made it utterly fantastic as I was on the big screen during the first chorus. 'Self vs Self' was fantastic and they even got Anders Frisk of In Flames to sing it live and it was a stunning moment. However the best moments of the set were 'Crush' and a huge performance of 'Watercolour' making this now the best show i'd ever seen. Then Iron Maiden turned up with thier modern set and just the fact they opened with 'Wickerman' was the best thing ever. A band that experienced backing their newest material is truly great and a sign there is more to come, and a better gig than the Nostalgia trips Slayer and Anthrax went on earlier in the weekend.

Ontop of the great bands there was also the great people we camped with and the sheer amount of cider, sandwiches and laughs we had with them made it the best weekend ever hope all of them are coming next year so we can camp together again :).

Then came towards the end of the Summer there was 2 big ceremonies. The Funeral for my Grandfather Anthony Alexis and the Christening of my Godson Akihiro Alexis. The old man and my immediate family had a complex relationship for a number of reasons but in the end, helping to bury the coffin and reading the bidding prayers gave me a moment of closure which i really needed. Then to the Christening where we realised that whatever happens to Akihiro personally we need to be there for the kid. He is a cute kid who has the whole world at his feet with the help of all the family, including me and my brother as Godfather's he should be absolutely fine.

Lastly as many of you know I gave up smoking recently. It's going to be tough with the cravings but with everything that happened recently and the fact that money is a bit tighter this year smoking is an irresponsible habbit for me to have as much as I enjoy the community shared by smokers, sharing cigarettes and lighters/matches in the ultimate expression of how communism should work. But now i should be healthier for stopping and I can say I enjoyed it, and the thinking time it gave me sometimes while it lasted.

Coming up next I go back to my more topical blogs with reviews of Wrestling ppv's Bound For Glory by TNA and the upcoming Bragging Rights by WWE.

Peace out yo'

Nick

The British Grand Prix - Not bad for a No.2 Driver.

HI GUYS!

Sorry for the delay, I have been held up by Kitchen refurbs and the birth of 4 kittens has rather put me off kilter so I have had to watch the race again to get this blog fully accurate and up-to-date. Hope my regular reading base of 12 bazilion people is not too angry with me. I hope I can be forgiven for my grave error.

My congratulations go out to Silverstone's circuit developers. The new track is a suprising success, the best thing Herman Tilke has ever created with great new corners and excellent overtaking places (more on this later). Yet another good race, we seem to be spoiled despite the gloomy mood after Bahrain with a great season with so many amazing elements to it. I am very sad about the summer break that will take place after the German Grand Prix in 2 weeks.

Anyway, onto the British Grand Prix itself.

Red Bull's current problems began about 5-6 minutes before the end of third practice before Qualifying when Horner and the rest of the team took Webber's updated front wing and gave to Vettel who damaged his. This is the most blatant show of favouritism since 2007 at Mclaren (we all know how that ended for Hamilton and Alonso respectively). What is worse is the dishonesty of it: Red Bull have never publicly said that they are favouring one driver over another but this trick of giving one driver better parts based on Championship standing with (and I state again) no public agreement between the team and the drivers is quite disgusting and actually more shocking than the race fixing scandal within the Renault team in my eyes. Eddie Jordan's interview to Horner asked the right questions but I would much rather have seen that from DC because of his silly Red Bull biased and it showed that compared to Brawn, Whitmarsh, Frank Williams and Domenicalli he has not got the skills to run a team effectively as I fully believe that the mechanics if nothing else are divided much like Brawn last year but it is more to do with bitterness than sheer competition. Mark Webber's "Not bad for a No.2" comment and his instance that he would never have re-signed for the team had he known something like this would happen is a sign of maturity that the rest of this team still don't have which is good on his part but worrying for the rest of them.

Add this to the drama at the start of the race and you have one of the most finely balanced situations since Senna vs Prost: Webber jumping Vettel and then Vettel forcing him and Lewis Hamilton into the pit wall was a stupid move, it not only caused contact between himself and Hamilton, but his puncture from the tire and the rumble strip at turn 1 but also forced the tightness between Hamilton, Kubica, Rosberg and the Ferrari's, which boxed in Alonso and made the collision with Massa utterly inevitable, basically causing chaos. Although he did prove he can overtake this year by passing 6 people including 3 German Compatriots in Hulkenberg, Schumacher and Sutil (although that was utterly rude). If Vettel doesn't calm down I can see this title race going to Hamilton vs Button vs Webber should these three continue to dominate and stay out of trouble (Anyone annoyed that I didn't mention Alonso just wait till later when I mouth off on him again).

He was quite petulant and it ruined the race and the constructors championship for the team as Mclaren made their respective races work out in the end. Webber was never going to be caught but Hamilton did a very good job of being no more than 5 seconds apart at any time (not including the safety car) and being that fast with half the set up time of the rest of the field. Jenson's calm drive from 14th-4th was very Button-esque: Not dramatic, involving managing his soft tires and steering clear of trouble.

Other noteable drives come from Rosberg to third (including a great pass on Algersuari), showing a Mercedes Revival, Barrichello and Kobayashi to 5th and 6th, pulling back some distance to Force India, and Sutil to 8th (including a good pass on Schumacher). It was also a bad day for Renault (they have slowly become my joint 2nd team behind Mclaren with Mercedes) as Kubica retired for the first time this season after his controversy with Alonso (again he comes later) and Petrov had another silent race where he did next nothing aside from be the victim of a mental overtake on lap 1 by Dela Rosa on The Loop (how nobody spotted this move was beyond me). Massa's race (much like Vettel's was ruined by a puncture but unlike Vettel got a bad break when he had to make a second stop and ruin any chances of a massive comeback.

NOW I WILL TALK ABOUT FERNANDO ALONSO.

He made a bad start and while he could not do anything about that or him being relatively boxed in Maggots and Beckets causing his accident with Massa but his pass with Kubica was inexcusable in my view. Not only did he go off the road but he should have let Kubica go straight passed afterwards (which he was told to do by Charlie W. and his team). The fact Kubica retired before he did is a symbol that he took too long to do and I don't subscribe to his drive through being harsh due to the timing as the same thing happened with Hamilton and Raikonnen at Spa '08 and he could well have lost the World Championship because of it so it wasn't harsh at all in my eyes. I am glad he didn't talk to the British Media after the race as not only am I getting sick of the sound of his voice but also what he has to say a lot of time makes him sound like a complete spoilt bitch. Even my mother who quite liked him when he drove his first stint at Renault is now getting a bit sick of him and she doesn't even like F1!!!! So all in, I make my Alonso statement stronger than I did last time out:

Can Fernando Alonso please kindly **** off and just drive!!!!

On an aside note I was developing a dislike for Mark Webber after his moronic drive in Melbourne but now he back into my good books as drivers go. I would prefer either Hamilton, Button, a Mercedes or Kubica to win the championship but I would not be sad if he did as he proving his skills after 8 long years in the sport.

Now at this point I am going to say goodbye before I get any more angry at Horner and Alonso. Next up is going to be my Pro-Wrestling review and look back at my first ever festival, 2000 tree's in Cheltenham!

Love to you all

Nick.

A bit late but better late than never.

Before I start this one off I will be moving off the topic of 'real sport' next week: I'll be doing things such as review for the last Slipknot record to feature bassist Paul Gray 'All Hope Is Gone', a update from the world of Pro-Wrestling with TNA's Victory Road and WWE's Money in the Bank pay-per-views and a look back at the Vuvuzella and diving stained 2010 world cup. Further more i'll be looking forward my first ever festival next week, an event by the name of 2000 trees in Chelthenham as a warm up for Sonisphere later in the month.

Now, Drum-Roll please! *drum roll for extended period of time*

It's the British Grand Prix coming up this weekend!

*More confetti and stuff!!!*

(I really ought to clean some of that mess up, it's becoming a bit dangerous lol)

With the revamped Silverstone actually looking very good it is a weekend I am extremely excited about viewing.

The new layout is rather fast and has been catching people out throughout the practise sessions, anyone from Chandok and Di Grassi to big guns like Schumacher, Massa and Hamilton. This, with the massive bump that has come about in middle of Maggots it's shaping to be an intriguing weekend where Mclaren, Red Bull and Ferrari once again lock horns with Kubica and Mercedes not being all that far behind.

One thing that has caught my attention is Hispania dropping Senna for the race to be replaced by former Super Aguri back-marker Sakon Yamamoto. This is a massive surprise to me personally as I thought Senna was doing rather well along with Chandok in something that genuinely looks like it handles like an old Lamborghini (basically like a pig). They have not given a reason, stating officially stated that they wanted to give Yamamoto a go in the car, after 14 Grand Prix where his participation could have been forgotten in the shadow of Takuma Sato's backflips with the same machinary. The weirdest thing of all is that Senna is going to get back in the car from Silverstone afterwards with no explination, which also makes me personally think that Chandok at some point will have to move on to the team's other test driver former Red Bull driver Christian Klien, who while not the fastest driver ever, I distinctly remember taking on Kimi Raikonnen at Bahrain in 2004 before the Finn's massive engine failure and not backing down from the superstar in the Mclaren.

Now for another prediction, i've been wrong 3/3 times now but that won't stop me from predicting today.

1. Webber/Hamilton

2. Hamilton/Webber

3. Vettel/Button

4. Alonso/Alonso

5. Button/Schumacher

6. Rosberg/Rosberg

7. Kubica

8. Schumacher/Massa

9. Sutil

10. Massa/Liuzzi

11. Barrichello/Algersuari

12. Buemi/Kobayashi

13. Kobayashi/Barrichello

14. Algersuari/Buemi

15. Hulkenberg/Kovalinen

16. Liuzzi/Glock

17. Petrov/Chandok

18. Kovalinen/ Vettel (ret)

19. Dela Rosa/ Hulkenberg (ret)

20. Glock / Di Grassi (ret)

21. Trulli/ Dela Rosa (ret)

22. Di Grassi/ (Trulli (ret)

23. Chandok/Petrov (ret)

24. Yamamoto/(ret)

Looking forward to a great race, see you on the other side guys and dolls.

Nick

P.S and one more thing.

TO THE PRESS! Hamilton and Button get on! GET OVER IT?!

European GP - Not so bad

So, after the potentially most boring Grand Prix I have one thing to say about it:

CAN FERNANDO ALONSO PLEASE SHUT THE **** UP!!!!!!!!!!

I can not deny the man's talent. He is a beast behind the wheel of the Ferrari is dragging the time into the championship hunt without much help from Massa. But he is becoming such a whiney little man, the ultimate driver politician and slowly becoming one of my personal most disliked drivers in the field. His 8th place wasn't as a result of a 'manipulated race' but because Kobayashi and Buemi were just good enough to hold him off.

My star of the race is definitely Kamui Kobayashi. His clever ploy of staying out on the hards for most of the race and then his pace towards the end to nail Alonso at turn 17 on the penultimate lap and Buemi with a stunning move on the last corner of the last lap. He did an excellent job keeping Jenson behind him and the most aggressive driver in F1 is showing why Peter Sauber stuck with him rather than going with Fisichella or Heidfeld.

It was a decent race at the front, ruined by Hamilton's drive through. He and Jenson had good pace between them and proved at most points in the race to be faster than Vettel. That Mclaren is hugely fast and Red Bull really need to look over their shoulders as if this new car at Silverstone work's as well as I think it will it could be a British fight between Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

Back on Schumacher's progress he did a good thing with just going on a sort of 'live test' after the safety car went in. He was very fast despite the potentially cooking brakes and his data should prove invaluable. He was nearly amazing and could have got his own 3rd place had he only been in the pits a couple of seconds later. So I say well done on a very responsible drive for him.

However there is only one thing that can be looked at in the overall scheme of this race and as much as I dislike him I am extremely happy that Mark Webber is ok after that horrible crash (which I assume everyone has seen now). The image of his car pointing at the air is one image that will stay with me for a very long time. I was in shock at least until mid-distance and Hamilton's drive through. I think there is some fault on both sides but at least he and Kovalinen are both in one piece.

Overall this has made it interesting for the World Championship. And here is a thought I want to leave you all with:

Sebastian Vettel has only made 1 overtaking move all season. And that was off the start line against Mark Webber in Malaysia.

Nick

I'm glad we're going out of the cup.

Apparently, it is 4-1 with 13 minutes to go in the football as I start to write, I have no doubt it'll be full time by the time I finish this entry.

Anyway, as I have said in my blog, I am happy that the football team are gonna be headed home from South Africa any minute now. Football is not the only thing going on in purely the sporting world and it is in fact the only situation (as is always the case) where the British are actually doing badly:

• In Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have finished in the top 3 together in the last 3 races and lead the World Drivers Championship and Mclaren lead the constructors championship also.
• Andy Murray is doing well at Wimbledon and he has a good chance of a semi-final (which would be a fine achievement).
• The Cricket team is turning into the best limited overs team in the world with what looks like it going to be a series victory of Australia for the first time in 5 years.
• Even the Rugby Union team has beaten Australia twice in a row which hasen't happened in even longer than that.
• We hold more than 10 Olympic and World Championship gold medals with a fine bunch of track and field athletes as well as great swimmers, rowers and other great people.

So why in the name of all that is Winston-bloody-Chruchill when the nearest sniff of a Football match taking place and the (i'm gonna get in real trouble for saying this with football fans reading this but here it goes) REAL SPORTSMEN who put more effort in their craft than their sponsorship and hairdos who are doing the country they are representing really proud and this bunch of arrogant, selfish, uncaring, pampered, whimpish, overpaid people win one game by the skin of their teeth (by that I mean Slovenia) and all of a sudden the good work by the likes of Jenson Button, Paul Collingwood, Rebbecca Adlington, Johnny Wilkinson and Andy Murray (I know he's Scottish, but I support him, because he a great tennis player, who cares) is forgotten.

I am not angry even though I sound that way.

I just genuinely think that people need to stop caring, take down the Sun's England flags, stop treating this bunch of people like heroes and get back on with your ordinary lives as I expect 50% of you reading this blog don't watch football.

Anyone who has a problem with anything I've said, take it up with me on my facebook. Congratulations to Germany as apparently it is full time as I type this.

Coming up next a report on today's European Grand Prix, which was won by Vettel (congrats to him)

Nick

European Grand Prix - How will this turn out?

Firstly I must apologise for this blog. I have only just woken up for the start of this so I might be a little bit dopey when I write this, I promise I will proof read it later on if it is that bad...Please do not judge me.

Time for potentially one of the most boring tracks on the calender the Formula 1.

We are headed to Valencia for the European Grand Prix. This circuit around the port has been outwardly know by the drivers, particularly Adrian Sutil, that despite the obvious challenge of staying out the walls and keeping concentration that is not a race track that is enjoyable to race on as it has no real challenging corners apart from the chicane section at the end of the the lap. If it is unpopular with the drivers just think how the poor fans have felt for two years.

Nevertheless there are some people who are feeling more confident about the race: In particular Martin Brundle who said that the track (which I agree it kind with) has similar characteristics to Montreal, which a fortnight ago produced one of the greatest races I have ever watched. With the drivers being more motivated and more aggressive in recent weeks there does seem to hope that finally the racing reason behind going to Valencia, rather than Bernie cynically making money off the back of Alosno, will be decided.

Before I look at the potential I must look about the two major rule changes for next season:

• People moan about the adjustable rear wings as making the racing fake. I see where they are coming from but it is also about when to use it tactically and intelligently to make the move is a skill the drivers will have to know. And it doesn't mean that overtaking may not take place anyway with the dropping of the contentious double diffuser.
• The 107% qualifying rule is back. Hispania and Virgin started this season just outside the rule so whichever new team turns up (unless they can make a better fist of it that those two) will have a problem of not taking part in very many races due to the speed (or lackthereof) these cars seems to possess.
• Pirelli are the new tire supplier for next year but they want to make bigger tires for the cars. One of the current problems with the tires is that they are too big so hopefully they see sense soon as smaller tires will reduce the overall grip and make the racing more interesting hopefully.

Now for predictions for qualifying and the race, as per usual it will quali on the left and the race on the right, with anyone staying in the same place only having one name and ret. standing for retiring.

1. Hamilton/Alonso
2. Alonso/Webber
3. Webber/Hamilton
4. Rosberg/Button
5. Vettel
6. Kubica/Schumacher
7. Schumacher/Rosberg
8. Button/Kubica
9. Massa
10. Hulkenberg/Sutil
11. Petrov/Algersuari
12. Sutil/Kobayashi
13. Algersuari/Buemi
14. Liuzzi/Barrichello
15. Barrichello/Kovalinen
16. Buemi/Trulli
17. Kobayashi/Liuzzi (ret.)
18. Kovalinen/Chandok (ret.)
19. Trulli/Di Grassi (ret.)
20. Dela Rosa/Glock (ret.)
21. Glock/Senna (ret.)
22. Senna/Dela Rosa (ret.)
23. Di Grassi/ Petrov (ret.)
24. Chandok/Hulkenberg (ret.)

This race traditionally has early retirements and damage so fingers crossed there could be some comeback drives, overtaking and more than one tire stop again please??????

For now I will let you get on with your day. After the race shall be a joint look back on the first week of Wimbeldon, including Mahut and Isner's epic and the World Cup up until England's inevitable penalty exit against the Germans.

Respect to you all, I'll report back when the race is done.

Nick