Tokyo Dad

Lewis Back to Winning Ways

Good to see Lewis Hamilton winning the Hungarian Grand Prix by driving a storming race from start to finish, although what a shame for Fernando Alonso. It was also good to see Kimi Raikkonen on the podium again. Some people don't like the Hungaroring, but there have been some cracking races there over the years - who can forget Damon Hill overtaking Michael Schumacher's Ferrari in his Arrows. Hungary was also where Hill won his first grand prix in 1993. But I digress...

It was terrible to Felipe Massa crash and let's hope he hasn't sustained any permanent injuries - the news from the hospital seems positive so far, so fingers crossed. So who will replace him? Will it be the aforementioned seven-time world champion as the rumours have been claiming? Not according to his manager, Willi Webber, who said that "Whoever sits in the car at the next race in Valencia, it will not be Michael Schumacher. I am not 100 per cent sure; I am 200 per cent sure."

Alonso Takes Pole in Hungary

Fernando Alonso has taken his first pole position since 2006 after the final chaotic session came to a bizarre end as a timing system failure left the drivers initially unaware of where they had qualified.

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber took second and third for Red Bull, with championship leader Jenson Button qualifying only eighth. The McLaren seems to be getting better, with Hamilton and Kovalainen taking fourth and sixth spots. The William-Toyotas of Rosberg an Nakajima claimed fifth and ninth, with Raikkonen and Massa rounding out the top ten in seventh and tenth.

Worryingly, though, Felipe Massa was airlifted to hospital after a heavy crash and was said to be in a stable condition. Let's hope he's OK.

Button Takes Pole in Malaysia

What a dream start for the Brawn GP team and how wonderful it is to see Jenson Button getting a car to match his talent. He is an incredibly smooth driver who has been vastly underrated in the past and I am very pleased to see his dedication to Honda/Brawn pay off for him.

What is there to say about the other things going on in F1 (McLaren, Hamilton, Trulli, etc)? Well, I don't really care. I supported McLaren for a long time, but no more. My support goes out to Brawn, Toyota and Williams. I would also like to see Kimi do well, as I think he is also an underrated driver.

Malaysia look to be another interesting race. I said back in October that for the first time in years we might see five or six drivers competing for the title in 2009 and it really looks like coming true!

Button Wins Australian Grand Prix

Jenson Button drove a perfect race to give Brawn GP a stunning start to the season as he won from pole position in Melbourne. Rubens Barrichello, despite a couple of shunts, topped off the celebrations by finishing second as the drivers replicated their qualifying results.

Jarno Trulli claimed third for Toyota and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth after Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and BMW's Robert Kubica collided while running second and third with only four laps to go - ending both of their races.

For the second year running, Ferrari finished without a point in the season opener. Felipe Massa was running in third place before being forced to retire on lap 45, three laps after Kimi Raikkonen spun out.

Button on Pole in Australia

What a fantastic way to start the new season: a very different-looking qualification table with Jenson Button on pole position for a team that didn't exist only weeks ago! His Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello gave team boss Ross Brawn even more to smile about this afternoon as he lines up alongside Button in second. Not such good news for reigning champion Lewis Hamilton and his McLaren team: he and teammate Heikki Kovalainen qualified 15th and 14th respectively. It was later reported that Hamilton will be forced to start at the back of the grid for a gearbox infringement. I can't wait for tomorrow!

Qualifying:

1 22 J. Button Brawn GP Formula One Team
2 23 R. Barrichello Brawn GP Formula One Team
3 15 S. Vettel Red Bull Racing
4 5 R. Kubica BMW Sauber F1 Team
5 16 N. Rosberg AT&T Williams
6 10 T. Glock Panasonic Toyota Racing
7 3 F. Massa Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
8 9 J. Trulli Panasonic Toyota Racing
9 4 K. Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
10 14 M. Webber Red Bull Racing
11 6 N. Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1 Team
12 7 F. Alonso ING Renault F1 Team
13 17 K. Nakajima AT&T Williams
14 2 H. Kovalainen Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
15 1 L. Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
16 12 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso
17 8 N. Piquet Jr. ING Renault F1 Team
18 21 G. Fisichella Force India F1 Team
19 20 A. Sutil Force India F1 Team
20 11 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso

F1: 'Wins Will Decide the World Title'

Another big shakeup in F1 rules - one that would have seen Felipe Massa take the world title last year (as many people believed he should have):

Formula 1 has introduced a new points system that will see the driver with most wins crowned world champion.

The current points system will still operate to decide a tie if two drivers have the same wins and to define all other championship positions.

Had the new rules been in place in 2008, Lewis Hamilton would have lost the title to runner-up Felipe Massa.

From 2010, there will be an optional budget cap of £30m that will reduce some teams' spending by 90%.

The new rules were approved by the World Motor Sport Council of governing body the FIA at a meeting in Paris on Tuesday.

Read the whole thing on the BBC website.

Brazilian Grand Prix: Live

Just after 2am here in Tokyo and the finale to the 2008 F1 season is...

Off! Everybody at the front is away cleanly - not so at the the back, so the safety car is out as David Coulthard walks away from his car for the last time. Not a very satisfying way for the likable Scot to finish his career - a career which I have followed from his early days at Williams.

2:20 The track seems to be drying out after the shower just before the start.

They're off again...

Massa is looking strong in the lead. Alonso is once again driving smoothly and making the below-par Renault look like a great car. I've said it before, but I'm still convinced he is the best driver out there.

My eyelids are getting very heavy...

Not a great deal to report - sometimes Lewis Hamilton has enough points to become World Champion, sometimes not. Felipe Massa is driving a very solid race up front and doing all he can to take the crown. Also impressive is Fernando Alonso.

I dozed off...

Hamilton is being chased hard by Sebastien Vettel.

Second-to-last lap, it's raining, and Hamilton is overtaken Vettel - he is down in sixth and unless something changes, Massa is the champion.

Last lap - Hamilton is trying desperately to get past Vettel, but the talented young German seems to be pulling away. Hamilton has driven conservatively - sensibly keeping out of trouble - but maybe he has driven too conservatively...

Massa crosses the line to deservedly win the race. Has Brazil got its first World Champion since Ayrton Senna back in 1991?

No! Unbelievable - Hamilton gets an enormous stroke of good luck: Timo Glock is struggling on slicks in the last corner and Hamilton slips past to take fifth place and the points he needs.

Lewis Hamilton becomes the youngest World Champion in history and the first British World Champion since Damon Hill in 1996!

It's 4am and I'm off to bed.

F1 Championship 2008: Who Deserves to Win?

I'm looking forward to the last couple of races - starting with Shanghai tomorrow - and I've been giving a lot of thought as to who I think deserves to be champion this year. I agree with Jacques Villeneuve - Robert Kubica deserves to win. He has been the most consistent driver this season despite having a car which, let's face it, is not as quick as either a Ferrari or a McLaren.

Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, however, have both had seasons marked by impetuous driving and amateurish errors. Yes, everybody makes mistakes (as Hamilton said after the calamitous Japanese Grand Prix) but the fact is that these drivers are paid extraordinary sums of money to not make mistakes, and both of them have made too many both this year and last year. World Champion Kimi Räikkönen has sadly been rather anonymous throughout much of the season, which is a great shame as I think he is better than pretty much everybody else on the grid, barring Fernando Alonso. Alonso himself has been plagued with a pig of a car for most of the season - the Renault - but he has still driven it to back-to-back wins in the last two races. Let's hope the team gives him a car befitting his ability next year.

Whatever happens, I'm sure it will be an exciting climax to an exciting season, which can only be a good thing. As I said before, I'm already looking forward to 2009!

The Japanese Grand Prix and the Prospect of an Exciting F1 Season in 2009

I, for one, was very happy to see Fernando Alonso (left) storm to victory in his second consecutive Grand Prix here in Japan at the weekend. His win in Singapore was due in part to luck, but in Japan he drove an immaculate race to prove that he is still the best driver in F1 at the moment - probably by some margin. Seeing him, Robert Kubica and Kimi Räikkönen up on the podium was a nice treat and I wish that one of them would be crowned WDC this year. The only one of the three who is in with a shout is the excellent Kubica in the ever-improving BMW Sauber.

As for the main two contending the title - Ferrari's Felipe Massa and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton - well, it was a race to forget for both of them as they both made some amateurish-looking (and stupidly impetuous at times) errors which could have had much more serious consequences. Hamilton's awful lunge at the first corner and his slightly wild (and unnecessary) driving near the end to overtake Alonso (and thus unlap himself) and Massa's driving all over the place (overtaking Hamilton and Mark Webber) was not exactly what we expect to see from World Champions in waiting. To be honest, neither of them have really proved that they deserve the title.

However, the resurgence of Alonso and Renault, the continued good form of Kubica, and some great driving from the likes of Sebastian Vettel and others, means that for the first time in years we might see five or six drivers competing for the title in 2009. Prospects like this keep me interested in a sport I have loved for over twenty years - and help me forget about the torrid events of last season...