He may well wear his heart on his shoulder, but if you dont then you have a driver like Kimi or Shuey, and thats just frankly boring. He gave a nice smile when mentioning about his out burst a few weeks ago, which was quite funny. Hopefully now he’ll settle down and keep his seat for next year.

Other than that, and Mclarens balls-up ( sure Janus was laughing his ass off over that one ), it was a pretty dull race….again. And now we have the race for another 5 years thanks to a new contract that has been signed. Oh well as long as Spa always follows it the very next weekend, I can live with it.

So button despite a poor finish still extends his lead and Vettel is pretty much out of it. Unless he wins and button doesn’t, those two engines will never make it and i reckon he’ll have at least one penalty for running out of engines. Either that or they have to used old engines, but seeing as he cannot go for long on a brand new one, I doubt they’ll go down that route. As Eddie J said on the forum after the main show, Seb has yet to prove himself to me. I really like him as he is such a nice bloke and a great driver. BUT, I’ve yet to see him go toe to toe really get stuck in. Then again, there hasn’t been much toe to toe racing all year! I think he’ll be a real contender sometime soon, but he needs to do more than win from pole or take advantage of the weather.

In note to Janus and his BBC bias to Mclaren. Well, I know you hate them mate but really, come on, before when the cars were complete dogs, they hardly mentioned them and just laughed really. Eddies comments were nigh on blasphemes! Then when they are starting to look better, sure they talk about them, but there are a British team, and like it or not, ANY TV company is going to big-up a local team for gods sake. Have a go at watching Italian coverage. You think for one second they were hitting on Ferrari when they sucked?

Its the same in ANY sport! Tim Henman?! Andy Murrey? England cricket team? All boasted to the hilt despite some atrocious results. Besides, it could be worse, we could still be with ITV!

Anyways, on to Spa and I for one cannot wait, This is THE circuit I would like to go to ( apart from Donington which is only a few minutes away from my house ). Hopefully Toyota ( where I work ) will have some sort of offer when the time comes.
Its such a fantastic track, for both drivers and spectators. It’s had some amazing races and is always great to watch, so roll on Friday when the action begins!

great write as usual Elton.

Barrichello carried the message ‘Felipe – see you on track soon’ on the back of his crash helmet and pointed to the slogan when he climbed from his car after scoring his tenth career victory in Valencia on Sunday.

Massa, watching the race from his home in Sao Paulo, said that he had called to congratulate and thank Barrichello after the race.

“My first attempt failed because he was debriefing with his Brawn GP people,” he said. “But later I could manage to talk to him and congratulated him for his fantastic victory.

“Of course, I also thanked him for everything he’s done and said about me during the whole weekend. In fact, I felt very emotional when I saw his helmet with a design intended to homage me.”

Massa, who contributed to Brazilian television channel TV Globo’s coverage of the event via SMS text, added: “I followed the race also by my laptop, taking a close look at the live timing.

“The last time a saw a Formula 1 race on TV was the Japanese GP back in 2003. It was the race that closed the calendar and I did not travel do Japan because I was Ferrari test driver at that time.”

“I was with my fingers crossed all the time, expecting a victory that could keep the Brazilian domination in Valencia. Don’t forget that I won the race in 2008, after starting on pole and setting the best lap.

“Rubens did a fantastic job today. I was checking his lap times and I’m sure he could win even without Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren [pitstop] problem. He was amazingly quick in his second stint and did not commit any mistakes.”

Massa also confirmed that he will travel to the US on Friday to see the former CART medical director Dr Steve Olvey, who is currently serving as a director of the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, as he continues his rehabilitation from the head injuries sustained in his Hungarian GP qualifying crash.

“I will take my TCs with me and probably undergo further exams at the hospital in Miami,” he said.

An overjoyed Rubens Barrichello always knew he would end his Formula 1 victory drought this season – despite seeing team-mate Jenson Button seize the initiative with six wins earlier in the campaign.

Barrichello took his first triumph since China 2004 in last weekend’s European Grand Prix to reignite his world championship campaign – and prove his vast experience is no hindrance to his speed.

And although there were times earlier this season when his annoyance at missing out on wins manifested itself in outbursts against the team – most notably in Spain and Germany – he has said he was sure that success would eventually come.

“It is just sweet,” Barrichello told AUTOSPORT as he reflected on his victory. “First of all I need to say that although I wasn’t winning at first when Jenson was winning, it was such a nice shock in such a nice way to drive a quick car, that it was good.

“I was out of a seat in F1, then suddenly I was driving and it was a good car, so I had to be delighted with that. Now, in the paddock, people just love this win.

“I am a guy who doesn’t think on the frustrations, and doesn’t work on the negative. I work on the positives, and the fact that Jenson was wining was only telling me that I was going to be able to do it.

“And for me that has come in difficult circumstances. We didn’t do very well in the last three races and then I win a race that was tough for everyone – so I am just delighted.

“I have always thought positive. I’m a hard worker, and I love being able to win a race like this – and hopefully I can win the next six.”

Button heaped the praise on Barrichello for delivering Brawn GP its seventh win of the season – and cheekily hoped that the triumph would result in the Brazilian celebrate in style and not being in best shape for Belgium next weekend.

“It’s been five years for him and he deserves it,” said Button. “He knows I mean it when I say well done to him and great job this weekend.

“We’ve been together for four years now as team-mates and I am sure he found it very difficult at the start of the season, but now he has got his first win for this team. It is a big step for him.

“Hopefully the next few days will be big for him and he will not be on form next weekend! We will see.”

And Button admitted that Barrichello was now just as much a threat for the world championship as Red Bull Racing duo Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

“He is a tough opponent and you need that in a team. Red Bull are the same, they have Vettel and Webber, who are fighting each other.

“I never thought it was going to be easy with Rubens. He is very competitive and for me it is a question of getting the best out of the car. I didn’t get the most out of it here.”

Source: Autosport.com

The Brawn GP driver could manage no better than seventh after a difficult afternoon that saw team-mate Rubens Barrichello end a five-year victory drought.

But despite only taking two points, Button was able to increase his advantage over rivals Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel as neither Red Bull driver finished in the points.

Reflecting on the weekend, Button said: “Yeah, it is very unusual for your team-mate to take eight points out of you in one race. Rubens did a fantastic job this weekend.

“He has been very quick all weekend and I have struggled to be on his pace. But in qualifying I screwed up, which cost me time. I double shifted out of Turn 5, and hopefully we can rectify that problem as I did it in the race as well.

“Starting fifth I thought we could have a good race, but Vettel came across at the start and if I had stayed flat I would have ripped my front wing off. So, being back in the pack – although I know fifth is not back in the pack – but it is a bit crazy.

“In a way, I got two points and I was lucky to get those points. I was down in ninth at one point, behind Webber, and with Sebastian up in fifth.

“In the end neither of them got points and I got two points, so it is a positive day. But it is also a day where our car was strong and, as my team-mate proved, there were a lot more points on offer and it just didn’t go my way. ”

Button reckons that if he had not lifted when Vettel squeezed him on the run to Turn 1 then the pair would have collided.

“The most important thing for Vettel is to beat me, and he came across and I had to lift,” he explained. “It is always a difficult one, because if I didn’t lift then I would have probably broken my front wing and damaged my tyre probably, or his sidepod, but I had to lift.

“The problem is as soon as you lift there, everyone is just building speed and you are not, and there is a massive difference in speed. That is why I dropped so much ground there.

“I thought I had picked up a couple of places at Turn 2, but Alonso went wide and came back across on me, and I had to lift. Then Webber at Turn 4, I thought it was a bit harsh that I had to let Webber past because I went across the chicane as I couldn’t get around the corner as he went all the way to the edge of the circuit sideways and I could not get around, so I had to go straight.

“It was a bit harsh, and that is what cost me quite a few points as I could not challenge the people who were stopping earlier in front of me.”

Button thinks that race control should have consulted him about the chicane-cutting incident before telling him to relinquish position: “The thing is they didn’t speak to me about it, and that is the thing.

“You have to get both views as well. It is down to the stewards, but you need both drivers’ views and no-one asked me the question.”

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali has left the door open to replace Luca Badoer after the Belgian Grand Prix if the Italian does not manage to raise his game.

Badoer, standing in for the injured Felipe Massa, struggled at the back of the field at the European Grand Prix this weekend.

The Ferrari test driver, who had not raced since 1999, qualified and finished last in the Valencia race, although he had made it clear the event was just a test for him and is hoping to do better at Spa.

Although there were suggestions this weekend that Badoer would keep the seat until Massa is back, Domenicali suggested things could change after the next race.

“What I said exactly, to be precise, is that for us the first priority is to understand when Felipe Massa will come back,” Domenicali told reporters after the race.

“For sure it is an important race for Luca Badoer next weekend. We are expecting a big jump from him and then we will see.”

The Italian team boss admitted Ferrari cannot afford to have a car finishing at the bottom of the field, especially with the Maranello-based squad now in a close fight for third place with McLaren.

He did praise Badoer’s fitness, however, after the Italian finished the race without problems.

“As I have said before, Ferrari cannot be satisfied with a car in last position,” he said. “That is pretty clear, but we need to consider all the circumstances and everything that has happened. I think if you look behind it, for sure it was a difficult weekend for him.

“In terms of race pace, if you look to compare to the other young drivers, you can make your opinion.

“He did a great start and then he was touched from behind so he lost a place, and then in terms of rhythm – everyone was worried this morning about his health, worried about that it was not possible for him to get to the finish and that he would have to go to the hospital. But he was very good.”

Source: Autosport.com

Sebastian Vettel has vowed to fight until the last breath for the 2009 world championship, despite suffering his second mechanical failure in as many races at the European Grand Prix.

The German’s retirement – as a result of his second engine failure of the weekend – was a massive blow for the winner of two grands prix this season. He is now 25 points behind Jenson Button in the title race with six rounds to go.

“It’s not good,” he said. “In terms of the championship, I will fight until the last breath, but it’s not good to have retired when you’re hunting and want to get more points than your opponent.

“You’re in a position to do it, but then you don’t finish the race.”

Vettel wasn’t in a position to take points on Sunday in Valencia after a fuel rig problem rendered him 16th following a required second stop.

“The biggest problem today was the first stop – we weren’t able to get fuel in the car, so we had to come in again. We were lucky to make it back for a second stop.

“The race was lost already at that point but then, a couple of laps on, I had a problem with the engine and I had to retire.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted that the failure had been expensive but that while it made Vettel’s title hopes more difficult to achieve, he was still in the fight.

“We need to look into and understand that, but it is an expensive failure,” Horner told the BBC.

“He’s always in it [the championship] until mathematically it’s impossible to win. It’s increasingly difficult, especially with a handicap of only two engines left between now and the end of the year. It puts us under quite a bit of pressure.”

Incidentally do you not think that the BBCs commentary team isn’t really a commentary team but more of a McLaren appreciation society. It’s almost like they are reading from a McLaren prepare script at times.