Formula 1 round up

So after a four week break the Formula One season has kicked off again in Valencia last weekend and we’ve had yet another new winner this season in Rubens Barrichello.
It has to be said that I’m not actually a fan of the Brazilian, for no particular reason, but I have to admit that he did deserve the victory. And it means that the world championship is even more unpredictable, with him moving back into second place, just 18 points behind his team-mate Jenson Button.

Ruben's won after a five year gap

There’s been lots of other things happening as well and rumours of more on the horizon.
For a start, there was the on-off fiasco of Michael Schumacher’s return to Ferrari. I can’t help but think it would have been better to have had his neck checked out before making a public announcement, but never mind. Luca Badoer, or ‘Look-how Bad-I-am’ as he was dubbed by some of the media, made a right pig’s ear of his return to racing after a ten year absence. Think about that for a moment. He’s been driving around testing Ferraris for years but hasn’t actually raced for a decade. No wonder he looked so out of his depth. The other new face was Romain Grosjean, who acquitted himself reasonably well in the second Renault, replacing the much annoyed Nelson Piquet.

Oh yes, and BMW Sauber has announced that it has had enough and is pulling out at the end of the year.
So what about next season? Well Fernando Alonso is said to be going to Ferrari, Robert Kubica could take his place at Renault and if Heikki Kovalainen doesn’t improve (which he did at Valencia) then Nico Rosberg is ready to step into his place at McLaren.

The musical chair season is fully in swing

Red Bull is said to be looking at using Mercedes-Benz engines as they’re getting a bit fed up with the reliability, or rather lack of it, of the Renault powerplant and Williams wants to terminate its Toyota contract a year early so it can go with either Renault or Mercedes-Benz.

In the meantime, Jenson Button has said is he going to be more aggressive from now on, after losing out so badly at the start in Valencia, and Ferrari may replace Badoer after Spa this weekend. McLaren are back on form, proving Lewis Hamilton’s Hungarian victory wasn’t a one-off and Ferrari are creeping closer to the front, though it would be surprising to see them score any victories this year.

Eau Rouge. A famous corner

So Spa this weekend for the Belgian Grand Prix. It’s a wonderful track and should produce an interesting race.