Felipe Massa has his tail up today, Ferrari are back in business and he knows that he has an important role in the outcome of the race, particularly at the start, where he lines up fourth on the grid. Using the KERS system, which will give him an 80 horsepower boost on the run down to turn one, projections show that he should be second by the first corner, but if Button makes a poor start as he did in Bahrain and Kuala Lumpur, Massa will have him. “It will be hard to pass in one go all three cars,” More…

The attendance at this year’s Spanish Grand Prix is noticeably down on recent years. This morning we drove in at 8am and didn’t stop once. It’s the first time I’ve been able to do that since Alonso came to prominence. His lack of competitiveness with Renault is a lot to do with the drop off in interest, I’m told by my Spanish colleagues. But also the state of the economy and the high ticket prices are having an effect. Nevertheless they are expecting 100,000 people here today, so more than Silverstone’s capacity. But they expanded the grandstand capacity here and More…

Apologies to readers for late posting of this regular piece of content. I had an engagement in town and then another out of town and no wifi to be had in either place! Anyway, the Spanish Grand Prix is going to be very close and the teams involved in fighting for the win are very excited about that. I spoke with Ross Brawn after qualifying and he was really pumped up about the way his car had performed, but also by how close and intense the competition is. Judging from the fuel weights, I would say that Jenson Button will More…

Jenson Button described his pole position here in Barcelona as ’the best pole I have ever had’ and it’s hard to argue. He crossed the line to start the lap with only two seconds to spare after a mix up with his team over track position, which caused him to find BMW’s Robert Kubica in his path in the build up to the lap. He thought Kubica was on a hot lap and let him through, but he wasn’t and he then had to drop back to find a space. But he onlt had four seconds to spare on the More…

Adrian Newey, the Red Bull technical director is back in the F1 paddock this weekend after a few weekends based at home, developing updates for the car. Newey is a fascinating character. On the surface he looks like a real quiet, studious person, but when you see him in action and talk to him you realise that he is one of the most competitive people in Formula 1, drivers included. He has that rage to compete, which marks out the real champions. It was very much in evidence during his Leyton House, Williams and McLaren days, but after many seasons More…

Fernando Alonso is not enjoying his home Grand Prix and yesterday evening he had a major blow up with some of the Spanish journalists. It all relates to an autograph signing session on Thursday in the pit lane, where he was surrounded by photographers, so couldn’t get to the fans. He lost his temper and left the pits, then came back when the photographers had gone and signed the autographs. This was reported in El Mundo in particular as Alonso being rude to fans and showing arrogance towards poor people who’ve saved up to see their hero. Alonso was very More…

Veteran Williams technical boss Patrick Head is here this weekend, and was typically good value in the FIA press conference this afternoon. He got stuck into several meaty topics, but the most interesting point was about the proposed two tier formula for next year where teams running under the £40 million budget cap will have technical freedoms such as more KERS boost, unlimited engine revs and an adjustable rear wing. “If you are able to move your rear wing and lower your drag level going down the straights it has a number of interesting effects on your lap time but More…

Jenson Button says that he is not happy with the performance of his Brawn Mercedes car today, the first day of practice in Barcelona. The car is equipped with the new aerodynamic package, the team’s first major development step since the season started. It features a new engine cover, new floor and new bodywork around the rear suspension. It is supposed to have given around three to four tenths of a second to the car. Rubens Barrichello was fourth today and is happy with his car. It looks very much as though it is still the strongest car out there, More…

There was quite a bit of chatter last week about the inclusion of the ‘winner takes all’ clause in the 2010 sporting regulations, whereby the driver who had the most wins would become world champion. The FIA had tried in March to introduce it for the 2009 season, but needed the teams’ agreement, which wasn’t forthcoming. It was assumed by most people, including teams and by me, that the system would be introduced in 2010 instead. After the World Council Meeting on 29th April, the rules were published with the winner takes all system in place. Now it’s gone again. More…

Picking up on the story yesterday about Fernando Alonso losing 5.5 kilos in bodyweight during the Bahrain GP, I mentioned that Nico Rosberg was telling us yesterday that he feels the rapid weight loss the drivers have undergone over the winter is contributing to them not having the reserves of energy and strength at the end of races. I spoke to one of the leading driver trainers and he agrees with Rosberg’s point. Apparently, though, the important thing is how you lose the weight. If it’s too sudden then you lose the reserves and your energy patterns go all over More…