» F1 Columns

» Restaurant Reviews

- Join Here
- Terms & Conditions
- What is Writers Club?

The sun smiling down on albino-white skin, a light breeze blowing lazily infused with the aroma of car oil, beautiful women scantily dressed exposing their bronzed limbs and twenty men revving their engines. This, ladies and gentlemen, was the British Grand Prix!

McLaren has been the form team for the last few races but technical gremlins, bad pit decisions and a failure to pay the "Good Luck Fairy" in kind, has seen the team being beaten. Kimi had another engine failure and was penalised 10 places - that makes it two engine failures in as many races.

The rules clearly stipulate that a race engine is supposed to last two races…on both cars. Kimi qualified on the front row of the grid but was renegaded to twelfth spot.

Another brilliant drive saw the Finn finishing on the podium thanks largely to Fisichella but we'll get to that little gem later. Montoya had a fantastic start squeezing past Alonso and taking command of the next 59 laps. Dad of the adorable Sebastian Montoya never seemed to be bothered by the pesky fly-like presence of Alonso and came home to claim his first win for McLaren.

In post-qualifying interviews Alonso responded when asked about the London bomb attacks that there is only so much that the sport can do but they would do their very best to put on a great show for the fans.

He was true to his word. Alonso put together a near-perfect lap to qualify in pole but that's pretty much the only time he was in the front. He hounded Montoya through to the first round of pit stops and just missed out. Second round of pit stops - well seems that the bottle of champagne Alonso gave good mate Trulli just wasn't up to par because he held Alonso up significantly and effectively put paid to his chances of winning the race.

Alonso very graciously lay the blame at the lack of blue flags - poor Trulli didn't know that he was coming so had no idea that he had to move over. Yeah, okay, Fernando, you protect your buddy - hopefully he'll return the favour. Fisichella drove like a demon and had a stonker of a race until he pitted for the second time, that is.

Fisi successfully stalled the car in the pits and handed third spot to Raikkonen. Kimi's had two engine failures in a row, Fisi has stalled twice in a row - what's going to happen at the next race - are the wives going to announce that they are expecting twins?

Trulli is starting to be likened to a very wide, rather slow piece of earth-moving equipment. He has developed a knack for holding up the pack and Silverstone was no exception. Having qualified in 5th, Jarno held up the likes of Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher.

Apart from his perfunctory 15 minutes of fame, Trulli had a relatively quiet afternoon and finished just outside the points in 9th. The television audience probably saw teammate Ralf about twice throughout the race which is just as well because he only managed a solitary point and since he didn't bother holding anyone up he wasn't much use as an advertising medium either.

The BAR of Jenson Button looked rock-solid as the home favourite started the race from alongside Alonso (thanks to Kimi's penalty). Dad John was bursting with pride as he watched his son race with the greats.

Unfortunately Jens couldn’t do much better than 5th but nevertheless valuable points for BAR. Sato had a horrid afternoon as the car stopped at the end of the formation lap with a problem that theoretically was impossible. Huh? That's what the mechanics said, okay! Anyhow, he did finish the race albeit in a dismal 16th place.

The Williams boys decided to use the weekend as an experiment. Nick Heidfeld drove an old spec car whilst Mark Webber drove the new spec car. So did the science project prove anything? Hmm, Heidfeld finished behind Webber in the standings but neither driver was particularly fast and neither car scored any points. So the point has been proven - it's clearly an engine problem! Now if only BMW would capitulate and own up to their mistake then everybody could live happily ever after.

Ferrari are one of the few teams which aren't based in England which is lucky for them because to be beaten by a minute is embarrassing but to be beaten by a minute in front of your home fans is beyond humiliating. When will Ferrari admit that there is a problem?

Yes, yes, it ain't over till the fat lady sings but perhaps she should start rehearsing because unless Alonso ends up with a 'tennis' inflicted injury and Kimi retires mid-season to start his own talk-show Michael Schumacher is not going to be winning the championship. The Ferrari's finished in 6th and 7th with Rubens following in Michael's brake dust.

Now that Red Bull Racing has confirmed DC for the 2006 season the Scot has seemed to relax even more and the second half of his season is turning out to be rather disappointing.

After a phenomenal start to the season the Red Bulls seem to be moving backwards. The wings have clearly fallen off 'cause this bird isn't flying anymore. Perhaps with a Ferrari engine strapped into it next year the Red Bull will see red once more and stomp all over it but then again perhaps not. DC finished in 13th and Klien in 15th. Bring back sex-god Liuzzi (well that's his opinion anyway).

Rumour has it that BMW would be rather keen to take Nick Heidfeld along with them to Sauber which means that one of the current drivers is going to be given the boot. It's quite simple really, the new Sauber bosses just need to have a little chat to the boys at Sony and convince them to hire Jackie Villeneuve as a game tester - he would be an absolute ace! Massa has definitely been the more impressive of the two but he hasn't really had much competition. 10th place for Massa and 14th for Villeneuve.

The Jordan of Karthikeyan was the only official retirement of the race! That shows just how reliable these cars have actually become. Monteiro started from the back of the grid after two engine changes during the weekend and gained 3 places to finish in 17th - is he expecting a party? Albers and Friesacher took customary ownership of the last two places but you have to hand it to Minardi that they are still going even though they do not have the best package or a particularly big budget. Ten out of ten for trying!

Next stop is the backyard of the Schumacher brothers - Hockenheim. Probably one of the most picturesque race tracks but one known for being rather temperamental when it comes to the weather. McLaren are going to go to Germany brimming with confidence and Renault will be looking to extend their lead. Ferrari is going to be praying for rain and everyone is going to be praying that they qualify ahead of Jarno Trulli. The countdown has begun!