Andrew Benson blog

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Drivers' meeting 'promises to be very interesting'



Andrew Benson | 18:37 UK time, Monday, 23 April 2012

Oh to be a fly on the wall at the drivers' briefing ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix next month.

The controversial decision not to penalise either Nico Rosberg for his aggressive defence against Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso at the Bahrain Grand Prix or Hamilton for overtaking by going off the track has led to considerable debate within Formula 1.

So much so, that Alonso, a man who weighs his words carefully, has decided to speak out about it. After learning of the ruling, the Ferrari driver said to his 400,000-plus Twitter followers: "I think you are going to have fun in future races! You can defend position as you want and you can overtake outside the track! Enjoy!"
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton

Nico Rosberg (left) and Lewis Hamilton may have differing views at the drivers' meeting. Photo: Getty
Alonso had earlier said of Rosberg's driving: "If instead of such a wide run-off area there had been a wall, I'm not sure I'd be here to talk about it."

On the face of it, and at first glance, the stewards' decision does appear difficult to understand.

With both Hamilton on lap 10 and Alonso on lap 24, Rosberg veered dramatically to the inside - and, unusually, right across to the white line that demarcates the edge of the circuit.

Both Hamilton and Alonso went off the track in avoidance, to varying degrees. Whereas Hamilton kept going and succeeded in passing the Mercedes, Alonso backed off and tried for the outside line, but had lost too much momentum to pull a move off.

Article 20.4 of the sporting regulations says: "Manoeuvres liable to hinder other drivers, such as deliberate crowding of a car beyond the edge of the track or any other abnormal change of direction, are not permitted."

So why was Rosberg not penalised?

The stewards said his defence was legitimate because although it was Rosberg who started to deviate from his line first, he did so in a "constant and continuous straight-line manner" and neither Hamilton nor Alonso had "a significant portion of their car... alongside" Rosberg's.

In other words, because Rosberg moved first, he was always clearly in front and it was therefore effectively the other driver's decision to keep moving to the inside to the point that he was off the track.

In Hamilton's case, if you watch the TV footage back, you can clearly see this is the case.

It is less obviously so with Alonso - and the stewards had to use the footage from the Ferrari's onboard camera before they came to a conclusion.

I have not seen the footage, but I'm told it showed again that a) Rosberg moved first; and b) at no point was "a significant portion" of Alonso's car alongside the Mercedes.

During the race, viewers heard Alonso say over his team radio: "He pushed me off the track. You have to leave a space. All the time you have to leave a space."

This, though, is not actually what the regulations say.

A new rule, article 20.3, was introduced this year to formally enshrine that "any driver moving back towards the racing line, having earlier defended his position off line, should leave at least one car width between his own car and the edge of the track on the approach to a corner".

But this only applies when he is making a second move - there is nothing in the rules to stop drivers going right to the edge of the track in their first defensive move.

In other words, you might think - as Alonso did - that Rosberg's driving was unfair, overly aggressive, even dangerous, but the rules contain nothing the stewards could use to penalise him.

There is no obligation, I'm told by a senior figure, to leave room for a rival, unless he is partially alongside. The question then becomes, how far alongside does a driver have to be before the man he is overtaking has to leave him room with his first move?

That's where it starts to get awkward.

"It's no different," a senior insider says, "to a conventional overtaking manoeuvre when one driver dives down the inside, gets halfway alongside and they collide. One guy says: 'You should have given me room.' The other says: 'You weren't far enough alongside.' Often drivers' perception of a situation differs from the reality."

The stewards have to use their judgement, including factors such as speed differential between the cars, when a driver moved, how many moves he made, and so on.

Back, though, to what the rules do say. Article 20.2 says drivers "must use the track at all times". This is why Rosberg said over his team radio: "Hamilton passed me off the track."

Which Hamilton clearly did. So why was he not penalised?

The stewards, I'm told, asked: "What advantage did Hamilton gain by going off the track?" And they concluded that if he had gone to the outside, he was carrying so much momentum he would have passed anyway.

The most obvious of several counter-points to that is: "Yes, but Hamilton did go off the track when you have established he didn't need to, and he did pass him by doing so, so he should be penalised."

At least two leading drivers share this view, I'm told. But you have to bear in mind that Hamilton is not the most popular driver on the grid and his rivals are "always looking for ways to nail him", as one source put it on Monday.

The problem arose in the first place because concrete run-offs surround the circuit in Bahrain. Drivers can use these with impunity, safe in the knowledge that if they are forced off the track they are not going to spin on wet grass or hit a wall.

Had there been grass there, Hamilton would not have been able to pull off the same move (another argument for a penalty being applied) and Alonso might have backed off sooner.

Equally, had there been grass there - or even a wall - Rosberg might well have given them both a bit more room.

The stewards weighed it all up and felt that, in this instance, penalising Hamilton would have been overly harsh.

The result is some drivers believe Hamilton should have been penalised, some believe Rosberg should have been, and Alonso is saying the stewards' ruling gives drivers carte blanche to overtake off the track or crowd their rivals as much as they like.

Which is why that drivers' meeting in Barcelona promises to be so interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/...rosbe.html

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Four different winners - now pick a champion



Post categories: Formula 1

Andrew Benson | 18:21 UK time, Wednesday, 25 April 2012

McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh probably summed up the new Formula 1 season best in the wake of Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.

"Who's going to predict who's going to win the next race?" Whitmarsh pondered after Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel had become the fourth different driver, for the fourth different team, to win in the first four races. "It could be Red Bull, Lotus, Mercedes, Ferrari, us."

A Formula 1 season has not started in such an unpredictable fashion for 29 years.

Back in 1983, Brabham's Nelson Piquet, McLaren's John Watson, Renault's Alain Prost and Ferrari's Patrick Tambay were the men in question. Only Watson did not go on to be a major contender for the rest of the season, which featured a four-way title fight between Piquet, Prost, Tambay and the second Ferrari driver Rene Arnoux.


Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso's Ferrari may not be the best car, but he is making it a contender. Photo: AFP

This year, the winners have been McLaren's Jenson Button, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg and Vettel.

Paradoxically, though, on the balance of form over the four races, you would probably say that of those four only Button and Vettel will definitely be championship contenders.

Rosberg's Mercedes car is clearly quick, at least in qualifying, but its race pace has been inconsistent. Alonso has been driving brilliantly in the Ferrari - but on current form the car is nowhere near good enough to mount a title challenge.

THE SEASON SO FAR

For all the unpredictability of the results, and the thrilling spectacle of the races themselves, the same drivers and teams who have dominated F1 in recent years fill the top five positions in the championship.

Victory in Bahrain vaulted Vettel into the lead, ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, Red Bull's second driver Mark Webber, Button and Alonso.

Of those, Alonso's position is the most remarkable.

At best, the Ferrari is the fifth fastest car behind the Red Bull, McLaren, Lotus and Mercedes. And there have been times when it was probably the seventh fastest - behind also the Williams and Sauber.

Yet the Spaniard has won a race and conceded only 10 points to the world championship leader after four grands prix.

This stunning demonstration of consistency and skill is why it would be hard to look past Alonso if there was an award for driver of the year so far.

If he is to be a title contender this year, though, much depends on the major car upgrades Ferrari are planning to introduce for the next race in Spain - and which will be tried out for the first time at the official F1 test in Mugello next week.

If these do not give Ferrari a significant boost in performance, even Alonso will drift out of contention and, presumably, be overtaken soon by the drivers immediately behind him in the championship - Rosberg and Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen

MOST IMPROVED TEAMS - AND OTHERWISE

Just as Alonso is artificially high in the championship - at least in terms of the quality of the car he is driving - so Raikkonen and, arguably, Rosberg are artificially low.

It has been clear from the beginning of the season that the Lotus is one of the very fastest cars on the grid - but scrappy weekends at the first three races prevented the team from scoring strong results.

In Bahrain they finally got it together, and Raikkonen and team-mate Romain Grosjean finished second and third behind Vettel. As BBC F1 technical analyst Gary Anderson explained in his race review, the Finn might well have won.

According to figures compiled by Anderson, Lotus are second only to Caterham in a table that compares their performance last year to this.

Mercedes are some way down the list - but have definitely made more progress than any of the other traditional top teams. Ferrari are at the bottom.

The difficulty in assessing Mercedes' potential, though, is that for all their impressive performance in taking pole and victory in China, their form in the other races has been poor.

The Mercedes is quick in qualifying - thanks in part, no doubt, to its controversial 'double DRS' system - but they are the team whose performance deteriorates the most from practice and qualifying to race.

You can be sure a lot of their work at the Mugello test next week will be focused on this phenomenon.

The next-worst team on this criterion, incidentally, are McLaren.

THE TITLE BATTLE

Ferrari are the most consistent top team (and behind only Sauber) in terms of form from practice to race - a measure of how close a team gets to extracting the maximum from their car.

Red Bull are pretty close behind, even though it took the world champions until the fourth race of the season to record their first win.

One of the reasons teams have been struggling with consistency - both from race to race and within a weekend - is that they are finding it difficult to get the best out of the Pirelli tyres this year.

As Button has said: "Last year, we knew the tyres had high degradation but we understood them. This year, I don't really know what to make of the tyres."

Teams are struggling to keep the tyres in the right window of operating temperature, and different cars work them better in different ambient temperatures. Circuit characteristics also play a role.

Mercedes, for example, have been suffering problems with rear-tyre usage. So China was perfect for them. It was run in cool conditions on a circuit that is 'front-limited' - the front tyres tend to go off first.

Red Bull, by contrast, were struggling to get their car to work properly in China, and the result was their worst qualifying performance of the year. The race was less problematic, but Red Bull's race pace has been strong all year.

In the hotter conditions of Bahrain, on a 'rear-limited' track, Mercedes struggled and Red Bull shone.

Until Bahrain, McLaren had coped pretty well with the varying conditions from race to race, but their struggles with rear tyre wear in Bahrain will have set alarm bells ringing.

PICKING A FAVOURITE

Vettel predicted in Bahrain that, because the teams are all so close in terms of competitiveness, changing conditions will continue to have an effect on form throughout the season.

His team principal Christian Horner added that the season would "ebb and flow".

"It is a matter," Horner said, "of trying to be consistent at the races you can't win and take the maximum out of them. And at the races you can, you need to deliver."

So who is the favourite?

Before Bahrain, you would probably have said one of the McLaren drivers. Now, you might be tempted to say Vettel.

But what about Webber, who has had the edge on Vettel in three of the four races? Or Raikkonen? Or even Alonso, if Ferrari can effect a turnaround with the car.

One thing is clear - it's all very different from last year, when by this stage it was already blindingly obvious that Vettel was going to be champion.

As to who it will be this time, as Hamilton has said: "It's anyone's at the moment."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/...now_p.html

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Barcelona track not ideal for Mercedes - Schumacher

ESPNF1 Staff
May 4, 2012 « 'Exhausts are not the critical area' - Alonso
Michael Schumacher: "We will definitely go there and try our best" Sutton Images
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Michael Schumacher has warned that the Mercedes might not be that well suited to the demands of the Circuit de Catalunya at next weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

Mercedes has had a mixed season, with Nico Rosberg securing victory in China, but Schumacher scoring just two points after a mixture of bad luck and disappointing performances. The team used this week's Mugello test to work on tyre management, but Rosberg said there was still work to do on the car's performance in high-speed corners.

The Circuit de Catalunya has several fast corners and Schumacher said that could expose the car's weaknesses.

"Barcelona is a track we have driven extensively on, and this is why we know that its characteristics do not exactly play fully into our hands," Schumacher said. "But then, we will definitely go there and try our best and at the same time keep on working for the things to come."

He said some of the team's work in Mugello was focused on long-term developments.

"The positive thing about the test was that we could really concentrate on the developments we were aiming to work on," he added. "This should give us a good basis for further developments, even if maybe not for the next race to come."

Rosberg added: "The test in Mugello this week was very positive for us, and I believe we will arrive in Barcelona with a much better understanding of the tyres and how we need to set our car up. Despite the familiarity of the track, there will still be a lot of work for us to do, and it should be a good challenge."



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'Exhausts are not the critical area' - Alonso

Fernando Alonso has played down the significance of Ferrari's changes to its exhaust layout during this week's test at Mugello.

Ferrari brought the first stage of a major update to the rear of the F2012 on Thursday, featuring an exhaust layout more in line with its rivals. Several other cars featured revised exhausts at Mugello too, but Alonso played down the significance of exhaust technology this year.

"There's no difference in terms of driving compared to the one I tried on Tuesday," he said. "The exhausts are not the critical area this year, which can be seen from the fact that so far, cars with different configurations have won and, in Bahrain for example, the Red Bull won with the downward facing exhausts, but the quickest car on track was the Lotus, which has straight ones."

Alonso said Ferrari had made gains in performance this week, but reiterated the new parts he tried were just the start of a wider-ranging upgrade.

"I am very pleased with these three days of testing," he added. "The feeling I have after the test is a positive one. We have introduced a few small, and I stress that word, aerodynamic updates, that have produced the response we were expecting and that is the most positive news, which means I am confident for the future, in the short and the long term.

"It means that what we see in the factory in Maranello has now also been confirmed on track. Furthermore, we have worked on other areas, especially the tyres, doing short and long runs, on set-up and also on starts, given we were also trying out a new clutch.

"I cannot say if today at Mugello we can claim to have made up some ground, but in Barcelona, we will have more important updates and we hope that there, we can begin to close down the gap that separates us from the teams currently at the top.

"We have decided to favour development time in the wind tunnel rather than bringing forward all the new components to this test. Sure, it would be nice to be able to test all the updates on track first, but it is also nice that we can count on all the possible development potential for every single part. Barcelona will be a key moment in the season, but not a decisive one. It's not a case that we will suddenly find ourselves back on pole position, because there is no magic button. "

Alonso said the aim of the updates was to get both cars into the final session of qualifying in Spain before closing the gap to the front of the field over the following races.

"We must start by no longer struggling to get through to Q3 and get closer to the top six, then continue with development in the following races, making a step forward in Monaco, Canada and Valencia also. That is the only way in which we can contemplate finding these seven or nine tenths - it's hard to assess exactly how far off we are on the basis of the first races - which separate us from the leaders. Certainly, I am not denying that next weekend's event is a significant one: we cannot allow ourselves to struggle to get into Q3 if we want to fight for the title."


La misma fuente.

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Fernando Alonso says new Ferrari must produce results now

Fernando Alonso says a redesigned Ferrari car must give the team a major step forward at the next race in Spain if he is to fight for the title.

The double champion, whose car has been uncompetitive so far this year, has this week tested revised rear bodywork, which is part of a major upgrade.

"We were on average 0.8-0.9 seconds off the top guys in the first four races," he said.

"We need to reduce this immediately if we want to fight for the championship."

Alonso added: "Barcelona is one of the most important steps we have to do. We must do it."

The new bodywork, which also features a revised exhaust position, is just the first step in a series of upgrades due on the Ferrari.

New front and rear wings and a revised diffuser are also due for the Spanish Grand Prix on 13-15 May before further changes at the subsequent races in Canada and Valencia. Monaco is between Spain and Canada.

Alonso has won widespread praise for some superb driving that has enabled him to be fifth in the championship, only 10 points off Red Bull's leader Sebastian Vettel, after the first four races, despite having an uncompetitive car.

He has qualified no higher than ninth, having struggled to get into the final top-10 shoot-out in all races, yet he won in mixed conditions in Malaysia and scored points in Australia, China and Bahrain.

He said after testing the upgrade at Mugello in Italy: "We know there is no magic button that in Barcelona we will be on pole position because everybody will improve their cars as well, but we need to reduce this gap.

"Barcelona has to be the first step, in Canada the second step, Valencia third and then be close to them.

"We cannot be fighting for Q3 if we want to be fighting for the championship.

"We are curious to see how much we can improve the car and how much the others improve theirs and hopefully our step is bigger."

The new Ferrari design makes the rear bodywork, in front of and between the rear wheels, much more tightly waisted than before.

It has the benefit of less bodywork obstructing the critical 'coke-bottle' area at the rear, where the bodywork sweeps inwards towards the back of the car.

It also moves the exhaust exits further into the centre of the car, abandoning attempts to gain an aerodynamic benefit from blowing them at the area where the rear wheels meet the floor in an attempt to 'seal' the diffuser and increase downforce.

All teams have been exploring different exhaust positions in an attempt to recover performance lost to the ban on exhaust-blown diffusers - last year's must-have technology, where teams boosted downforce by blowing exhaust gases along the rear floor of the cars even when the driver was off the throttle.

Alonso said the evidence of the first four races, in which cars with very different exhaust designs have been competitive at different times, suggested continuing to chase this area was a waste of time.

"It is not important any more which [exhaust] position you choose and how you manage the position," he said, adding: "I think this year we cannot lose even five minutes on this and there are bigger areas on the car we need to improve and we try to do it."

Alonso set the third fastest time on the final day of the Mugello test, despite an excursion off track in the morning which broke the car's front wing.

He ended up 0.328 seconds slower than pace-setter Romain Grosjean of Lotus. They were split by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

Grosjean's fastest time was one minute 21.035 seconds - 0.232secs quicker than Vettel.

McLaren were the only team not to use their race drivers at the test, preferring to employ test drivers Gary Paffett and Oliver Turvey, instead of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

Red Bull have an upgrade package for the Spanish Grand Prix, but in Mugello were focusing on set-up work with an aim to better understand the 2012 Pirelli tyres.

Lotus also focused on tyre assessment, as well as trying out some aerodynamic and suspension changes to the car.

Grosjean's time was set in the afternoon, when conditions were windier than the morning, when Vettel and Alonso set their fastest laps, although Alonso also got close to his best time later in the day.

Lotus were pleased with the performance of the car. Trackside operations director Alan Permane said they were "flying - it's really good to be able to do 21.0 in the windier afternoon".

Fuente

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Analysis



Image of Gary Anderson Gary Anderson BBC F1 technical analyst



"The upgrades Ferrari introduced in Mugello are definitely an improvement. It looks like a reasonable step forward - you could be looking at 0.2 seconds a lap, possibly more.

The exhausts and sidepods are much more conventional now.

There is nothing too exciting about the exhaust exits but the 'coke-bottle' is a lot tidier than it was. There is still some upper rear bodywork sticking out into that area but not anywhere near as much as before.

There is no exhaust interference, and while they're struggling with the car it is better to get rid of that for now and go in search of the bigger gains they need.

Before, they were chasing the smaller gains from the exhaust but losing much more by compromising overall performance.

One reason there is still some bodywork there is that Ferrari are also using that area as an exit for the air from the radiators."




Traduccion glogeriana.

"Las mejoras introducidas Ferrari en Mugello son definitivamente una mejora que parece un paso razonable hacia adelante -. Usted podría estar buscando a 0,2 segundos por vuelta, posiblemente más.

Los tubos de escape y los pontones son mucho más convencional ahora.

No hay nada demasiado emocionante acerca de las salidas de escape, pero el "coque botella" es un montón más ordenado de lo que era. Todavía hay la carrocería trasera superior que sobresale en esa zona, pero no en cualquier lugar cerca tanto como antes.

No hay interferencia de escape, y al mismo tiempo que están luchando con el coche es mejor deshacerse de los que por el momento e ir en busca de las ganancias más grandes que necesitan.

Antes, ellos estaban persiguiendo a las menores ganancias de los gases de escape, pero perdiendo mucho más, al comprometer el rendimiento general.

Una de las razones todavía hay la carrocería no es que Ferrari también está usando esa zona como una salida para el aire de los radiadores ".

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18034090

Jenson Button goes fastest for McLaren in Spanish GP practice
By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer at the Circuit de Catalunya

McLaren's Jenson Button beat Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel to set the fastest time in Friday practice at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Englishman was 0.164 seconds ahead of the world champion, with Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg third ahead of the second McLaren of Lewis Hamilton.

Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean were fifth and sixth.

Fernando Alonso was only 14th despite Ferrari introducing a number of updates aimed at improving performance.

Scot Paul di Resta was 15th as his Force India team, like all their rivals, tried out new parts in an attempt to gain competitiveness.

“The car, all the updates we introduced today, first numbers or first signs are positive. We need to look in more detail but everything looks as expected”

Fernando Alonso Ferrari

McLaren got off to a troubled start in the afternoon session, with Button twice complaining of "terrible understeer" and Hamilton saying his gear ratios were too long.

But after Vettel set the early pace as the drivers began their runs on the faster 'soft' tyres, Button usurped him a few minutes later.

Hamilton might well have been up with his fellow Englishman had he not made a mistake on his first flying lap on the soft tyres. He did his time on the second lap, by which time the rubber is past its best.

McLaren have one of the most obvious updates, introducing a new, higher nose design for this race, following the trend of virtually all the other teams.

Button said he had struggled to make the harder of the two tyres work, while Hamilton said he had suffered set-up "inconsistencies" but both men said they felt the team's upgrades and improved the car.

Fernando Alonso had an up-and-down day for Ferrari, fastest from Vettel in the morning by 0.378secs but only 11th in the afternoon, 1.201secs adrift of Button.

He blamed traffic for his lack of pace, and said the first signs from Ferrari's extensive upgrade package - including new rear bodywork and exhaust position, a new floor and new front and rear wings - were "positive".

Alonso blamed his lack of pace in the afternoon on traffic - although on his first lap he was already more than 0.3secs off the pace at the first split point on the approach to Turn Four before coming across the slower cars.

"I am not disappointed," Alonso said. "Yesterday we said we try to recover some of the gap, we do the first step here in Barcelona. I'm confident that we did the job.

"The car, all the updates we introduced today, first numbers or first signs are positive. We need to look in more detail but everything looks as expected.

"We need to wait for qualifying - (and see) how much we struggle or how tough it is to go in Q3.

"It has been quite tough for us in China, Bahrain, Malaysia, so tomorrow hopefully we will see some positive signs on this.

"Going into Q3 a little easier will be a good sign, if we go to Q3 with a lot of problems or we don't go in at all, it will be more or less the same situation as before."
Focus on Red Bull
Image of Gary Anderson Gary Anderson BBC F1 technical analyst

"There don't seem to be big developments on the Red Bulls, but on Sebastian Vettel's car there is a modified duct in the coke-bottle area between the rear wheels. The duct on Vettel's car is open, but on Mark Webber's car it's closed. They tried it open in China, but then closed it off again for Bahrain. It's obviously something that's important to them because they're trying it again. In that area, you can create more consistent aerodynamics as it raises and lowers over bumps and during braking."

BBC F1 technical analyst Gary Anderson said the updates were a step in the right direction, and may make the car as much as 0.5secs a lap faster, but he added that all their rivals were moving forwards too.

BBC 5 live analyst Jaime Alguersuari, the former Toro Rosso driver, said: "I don't see Ferrari as contenders. They may have gained 0.3-0.4secs but I don't seem them as contenders for the win or the podium. I think they'll be struggling to get into Q3 still."

It was a low-key but quietly impressive session for Red Bull, where Webber appeared to be struggling to match Vettel's pace.

The Australian, who was seventh fastest, had an off-track moment at Turn Four, going into the corner too fast and bouncing across the gravel trap. He managed to reach the area of grass between the gravel and the tyre barrier and rejoin the track, albeit peppering the circuit with stones.

Webber said the 0.5-second gap between himself and Vettel - and the similar margin between the McLaren drivers - was solely down to Vettel and Button putting together the one lap drivers get on the soft 'option' tyre.

"One timed lap with the options basically," Webber said. "If you get that right, you're not looking too bad; 0.6-0.7secs between team-mates - JB big step ahead of Lewis. It just shows you if you get everything together the lap time comes."

Alguersuari said: "McLaren look very competitive - they did a lot of laps on the soft tyre (in the race-simulation runs at the end of the session).

"I think it will be between McLaren, Red Bull and Lotus."

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Millionaire man Maldonado answers critics



At the Circuit de Catalunya

The smile on Pastor Maldonado's face dropped in the immediate aftermath of the frightening fire that broke out in the Williams garage after the Spanish Grand Prix, but it soon came back again once he was told nobody had been seriously hurt. You can bet it will stay for quite some time.

Maldonado started this season as a man who owed his place in Formula 1 to the millions provided to his Williams team by the Venezuelan government.

After yet another bizarre and unexpected twist in this most unpredictable of seasons, he leaves Barcelona as a grand prix winner and talking about a possible championship challenge.

Maldonado drove a superb race at the Circuit de Catalunya, mature and controlled in a way of which few in the paddock believed him capable.

He came into F1 with a reputation for being quick but fiery and a bit accident-prone. In his first season last year he fitted the mould.

This season started in the same way - Williams's upturn in form had him battling with some unfamiliar rivals close to the front. But he started the season wrecking what would have been a strong points finish in the first race of the season when he crashed chasing Ferrari's Fernando Alonso for fifth place on the final lap.

Since then, though, Maldonado has turned a corner with some strong performances. But no-one - not even Williams - expected what happened in Spain.

The Mugello test before this race went well, and Williams knew they had improved their car. They thought they had made a step forward, Friday practice confirmed it, but not in their wildest dreams did they imagine they would qualify on the front row.

Second place, half a second behind Lewis Hamilton, was impressive enough, but it became pole position after the McLaren driver's penalty and, despite losing the lead to Alonso at the start, Maldonado always looked in contention for victory.

Alonso is the most formidable of rivals, but Maldonado kept him in sight in the first and second stints, before Williams succeeded in 'undercutting' the Ferrari at the second stops.

Ferrari almost certainly made a mistake in leaving the Spaniard out for two laps before his stop - nearly all of which he spent behind Marussia's Charles Pic, who was subsequently penalised for not letting Alonso by.

But Maldonado's pace on his first lap out of the pits suggested he might well have taken the lead anyway.

The pressure never relented, though. After the final stops, Alonso came back at Maldonado, but the Williams driver raced like a veteran and always looked in control of the situation.

The win does not change the reality of why Maldonado has his drive - but it certainly proves beyond all doubt that he deserves his place in F1, even if one inevitably has to wonder what the Williams would be capable of with Alonso or Hamilton behind the wheel.

To his credit, Maldonado does not seek to hide the financial support he is given, nor the fact that he is basically a state-sponsored driver who has the personal backing of his President, Hugo Chavez. In fact, he embraces it.

"I'm very lucky to have a country behind me, pushing so hard, to see me here in Formula 1 and especially to be here, between these guys," he said in the post-race news conference, as he sat between Alonso and another world champion, Kimi Raikkonen.

"I'm pretty happy for Venezuela, I'm happy for Williams as well. They did a wonderful job to give me a great car for this race. We are getting better and better, race after race."

There has been no magic in Williams's revival this year after several seasons in which they seemed to be inexorable decline.

There have been changes at the top of the engineering team, and a focus on fixing obvious, major operational and technical problems.

"We made big changes in the factory," Maldonado said. "We have new staff in some of the departments and completely changed the approach to building the car.
"I need to say that this year's car has great performance, great potential to become even stronger than it is and, for sure, this is great for motivation, to motivate the team, the factory, to keep pushing like that. I think this is the way. We are motivated and we need to keep pushing."

Whether Williams can maintain this form remains an open question - but the same goes for every other team in this incredibly topsy-turvy season.

There have been five different winners from five different teams in the first five races. It is the first time that has happened since 1983, when Williams were reigning world champions and were also, incidentally, the fifth winner.

Monaco could easily provide the sixth winner in six races, as Raikkonen's Lotus team also seem on the verge of a victory.

The 1983 season eventually settled down into a title fight between three teams. This one may well go the same way, but you wouldn't count on it right now.

The new tyres created by Pirelli this year have left all the teams scratching their heads.

One weekend you can be winning, the next you can be nowhere and not know why, as world champions Red Bull found out in Spain, following Sebastian Vettel's victory in Bahrain last time out.

As Alonso put it after the race: "We were 57 seconds behind Vettel in Bahrain, and we were lapping (his team-mate Mark) Webber here. No one understands probably. Not us either."

There is a recognition throughout the sport that this unpredictability is adding to the superficial appeal of F1, especially as the years of Michael Schumacher's domination with Ferrari are not so very long ago.

Nevertheless, there is also a growing sense of unease - largely unspoken publicly until now, apart from Schumacher's comments after Bahrain - that it's somehow not quite real.

The tyres, some feel, are introducing too much of a random element that demeans the sport in some ways. That F1, whisper it, may have gone too far the other way.

Fun, though, isn't it?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/..._over.html