Sebastian Vettel landed Red Bull Racing their first Formula One win at the Chinese GP, and as if that wasn’t enough for the Milton Keynes based team, Mark Webber made it a one-two.
Like his first win at the Italian GP last season, Vettel led from the front and drove superbly in very wet conditions, managing to not put a foot wrong all day.
He crossed the finish line almost 11 seconds ahead of teammate Webber, who you had to feel a little sorry for as he desperately wanted Red Bull’s first ever win.
But it was the young German who drove a peerless race, and it was good to see him up there on the podium top spot too, as he’s one of the most likeable guys on the F1 grid.
He was obviously delighted with the result, and said: “[It's the] second time now I’ve won a grand prix in the wet. The car was fantastic, it is definitely necessary to mention [that the] team did a really, really good job in preparing the car.”
Brawn GP’s Jenson Button was left trailing in third, and admitted that the Red Bulls were just too fast for him today: “We couldn’t challenge these people [Vettel and Webber] today, who were immensely quick, but it is great to score six points which is important for the consistency.”
If you’d told Jenson this time last year that he’d be ‘trailing’ with a third spot, then I think he’d have been pretty chuffed with that.
Button’s teammate Rubens Barrichello finished fourth, with the resurgeant McLarens of Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth and sixth respectively.
Ferrari had another shocker of a day, Kimi Raikkonen only getting a distant twelfth, and Felipe Massa having to abandon his car after it packed up on the side of the road. His frustrations were visible as he banged his car in anger.
On a slightly different note, I thought Mike Gascoigne did a great job of punditry and had a nice, easy rapport with David Coulthard – definitely better than Eddie Jordan on both counts. I also thought Martin Brundle’s grid walk was more punchy when accompanied by DC too. Good work BBC.
Wow, I managed to write an F1 blog about Sebastian Vettel without likening his ability to Michael Schumacher.
D’oh.
Wohoo!!
Quite pleased to see Red Bull on the top with Vettel and Webber.
Still a disaster for Ferrari but Mclaren did a decent job to get 5th and 6th…
Good race. Now atleast i won’t have to wake up early for the next one!
Clearly that photo was taken yesterday… look at the sky!
Waited for this post long enough….. felt sure about Vettel and Webber making it a one-two and bug congrats to Jenson who still made the podium. What a year for him.. and a superbly decent job for McLaren who managed some point.. sorry to Ferrari though but go Jenson and Brawn
Well done Red Bull, I am a Jenson supporter so am very pleased to see him extending his lead in the championship. Roll on Bahrain
Congrats to Vettel, Webber, and the entire Red Bull team! Fantastic race and Vettel was truly the master out there – whereas everyone else was spinning and drifting, he didn’t make one tiny mistake…absolutely brilliant.
And how cool was it to see 3 really nice guys up there on the podium? No drama, no hate, no background tension…just pure sportmanship. It’s a nice change from the Hamilton & Alonso days I’ll tell you that much
It’s great that all these drivers are getting on the podium this season, there a lot more interesting than the usually lot last season. Vettal and Button sound genuinely excited to be 1st or on the podium, whereas last season it was dalek Raikonnen, or Hamilton, or Massa who always found something wrong even when he won! They’re never satisfied
I’d much rather watch people who want to win win, not people who expect to win. Flavio Briatore talking out of his big fat arse, it doesn’t affect F1’s credability whatsoever.
jenson to win! woooo
Well, I thought the race was going to another downer when the SL Black fired up to actually start the race, but when it was deemed driveable (just), there were some close overtakes, spins, crashes, even attempted rape (Kubica was so vigorous in mounting Trulli he actually jogged Jarno’s roof camera)!
Unsurprised that Button got a podium, good on him. Another good race for the Brawns, if not as good as the last two.
But my biggest well done goes to Mark Webber. Finally, he didn’t get any bad luck and actually finished 2nd! There was plenty of opportunity for it to go all wrong (as it did AGAIN for the Ferraris, their worse start to a season in 17 years), but Mark kept it together, and wasn’t exactly cruising out on his own. Well done him.
It was kinda funny that the commentators were judging Bourdais’ figure skating on lap 36-ish. Probably the gold medallist for the weekend!
But why oh why does it always go tits up for Adrian Sutil whenever he’s in with a chance of getting points? Webber’s bad luck has changed hands, perhaps.
At least it won’t rain torrentially in Bahrain.
Whoops, forgot to mention Vettel. He’s clearly very good in the wet, but, just like at Monza, he lead from the start. I wonder if he’d have won had he started 2nd or 3rd…?
@Mikeado
Considering the lead he had pulled over Webber and Button, it would be safe to assume he had a very good chance of still winning had he started in 2nd or 3rd.
@Mikeado
And he also managed to overtake button when he returned from the pits for the last time. And what makes it interesting is that he had his tank full whereas button was running low on fuel
Buemi impressed quite alot! Brawn gotta be worrying about the red bulls progress, can the keep that Brawn ahead in the Dry?
vettel is no doubt going to be next schumi. brilliant absoulety brilliant.
I stand corrected.
Lol I was abit dissapointed to not see Eddie Jordon there, I find it very entertaining to see DC an Eddie disagreeing with each other all the time. Well done to Vettel, he drove a excellent race and was never really a doubt for the win, and was finally good to see Webber actually not have bad luck! Would love to see him get his first win this year too. My quote of the day’s got to be “thats Sutil there, with a nice 720, oh going into another 180 there. I’d give that 5.5″ Great stuff! Lol
P.S Buemi again put in another good showing, he could be one to watch out for in the future I think!
@ Jon F1
You’re right i think that Buemi was great, he deserved a win I just think that he aint got as much class as Piquet
well done Buemi considering this is only his 3rd gp in a f1 car and he has already started scoring points from the very beggining
Congrats to Red Bull.Just thought i would put this post up just to tell the Top Gear Australia guys that they know nothing Mark Webber’s driving abilities.
An entertaining race but odd to see the Brawns go off in the second half. Those Red Bulls must be really flying, shame it’s a year too late for DC!
It was the best possible result for Red Bull, the first win and a one-two is incredible, especially in extremely poor conditions with near to no visability. Great result for Button, he had a good race too finishing in third. It’s great to see three of the nicest drivers on the podium, they probably the best attitudes of any other drivers in the sport today and they had no grudges against each other either unlike Alonso and Hamilton.
Oh and i think Vettel and his car were fueled with Red Bull today!
@ Kieran … Piquet has class??
when will ferraei win ?
When will ferrari get a point more like! Surely they’ll bounce back… wont they?
@23
Dont look like it will be this year
Go Button
Ferraei will never win
Ever
maybe Ferrari
@comment 23: Never! Bwahaha!
*Ahem* Speaking of, I do feel sorry for Ferrari. Worst performance (so far) for 27 years. Hopefully the drivers won’t dwell on that too much. Or they will. I don’t really care either way.
I think McLaren should be pretty pleased with how they did when they consider that they were only beaten by the Red Bulls (Very good cars in the wet, and with Michael Schu- i mean Vettel driving for them) and the Brawns (best cars in F1 so far). I think hamilton would have beaten Barrichello too had he not done a Massa and spun out five times.
So much for ‘rainmaster’ Hamilton…
Nice to see Hekki actually complete his first lap and finish above Hamilton.
Well Done to RedBull, Brawn & Mclaren
Piquet has class???
You got to be joking right?
My grandmother drives better than him
How funny that all the English people don’t even mention their almighty Hamilton on this blog:D Oh yeah he made a lot of mistakes today, maybe that’s why:D
^ Maybe it’s because he’s not a headline this time. Besides, any British-driver bandwagoners are all bumming Jenson Button now.
Now imagine if in Malaysia Vettel did not have that racing penalty.
Poor Toyota. They’re the only team to have never won a race. (Force India used to be Spyker which used to be Midland which used to be Jordan, which had 4 wins).
Come to think of it, technically this is Red Bull’s second win, because they used to be Jaguar which used to be Stewart GP, which had 1 win.
Anyway enough F1 historical knowledge snobbery, congrats to Vettel and Webber and the whole Red Bull team. Great performance.
So we are looking for Vettel with the next win. After that we should be looking at Williams or Toyota for the next 2.
4 offs in one race! Hamilton reminded me of Massa in Silverstone last year, I have to say I am disappointed in his 6th place after getting up to 4th in a handful of laps. Either trying too hard or he kept the car too stiff and wasn’t quick enough for the snap oversteer. Did you see how the car was lifting it’s front wheels yesterday!
It was encouraging to see Kovalainen in the points after a dismal start to the season, but it is clear that the McLaren is still well off the pace of the Brawn and Red bull cars (what happened to Toyota this weekend?). Roll on Europe when we are likely to see more improvements…
It is a bit of a disgrace to mention Vettel as the next Michael Schumacher. Granted, both are talented. However, their driving styles are differnt. Vettel is not as agressive. He is more like a Rapier to Michael’s Claymore style. I am quite sure Vettel would like to be known as “Sebastian Vettel Formula 1 driver”, rather than “Sebastian Vettel – reference Michael Schumacher”.
If anyone at Top Gear knows Jonthan Legard, could you please tell him he is not on the radio anymore and that we are seeing the same images he is? He needs to shut up every now and again and let the racing and/or Brundle do some talking. It’s really taking away from an otherwise quite decent coverage. Excepting the webpages that is.
Anyway, congratulations to Vettel and Webber, awesome job.
Yeah if I were a racing driver and someone campared me to Micheal “the cheat” Schumacher I’d probably go to bed crying. You can’t say Vettel drove like Micheal… he didn’t ram anyone with a broken car, leave the racing track to get past someone, have an illegal fuel rig, secret traction control, park on the racing line, do zig-zags down the start straight or punch anyone for his own mistake. He didn’t even get to cheer and grin on the podium after a fatal crash gifted him the win.
i think Vettel will have a very successful F1 career. hope he joins Ferrari. well done to him and Red Bull, Ferrari need to get their act together.. come on boys this season is terrible, not even a point from the most successful team ever in 3 races.
Ferrari behind Force India in constructors standings.
What can I say?
Ha Ha!
HAHAHAHA Unlucky Ferrari
wot an amazing race, shows that those three teams are a force to be reckoned with. Speaking of ‘force’, who wants to see force india winning a race? Surely, after whats happened on the last three races, it may just be a possibility 
and it be a right thorn in the side of ferrari.
Vettel is the next Vettel.
No more Schumachers please.
to Wobbletastic, Schumacher was a fantastic driver. he was in the sport for a very long time and for 5 or 6 times he did something wrong out of how many races he raced, you should be ashamed of your self. he won more than 8 times you know. all his other wins luck/cheating too? prove they where if yes.
If this season goes like that, they will have to transform these cars in to speed boats.
Top Gear engenieering might come handy after all.
Gutted for Sutil.
But there’s another race at the end of the week!
Loving the schedule this year.
i see quite a few people are trying to bash Hamilton again. Its almost as if the boy can’t do anything right in people’s eyes. How can he not struggle on a wet track in a car that essentially lacks grip even in the dry? come on people. today was for red bull and vettel. lets celebrate and leave hammy out of this one.
No Showie, Schumacher may have been a fast driver but he messed up his chances of being rated up there with the greats; due to his attitude and the fact that if someone pushed him, he would rather take them out of the race that let them win in sporting style. I wish I could have enjoyed watching someone win 7 world titles, but that was never the case; he must be just about the most unpleasent person to have ever lived.
@48
‘he must be just about the most unpleasent person to have ever lived.’
Hilarious!
I disagree that he cannot be considered a great, all the greats need some flaw to make them interesting, that’s why Mika will never be considered a great despite being one of the few who had what it took to beat Schumacher.
I was hoping karma would bite Vettel in the ass and grant Webber that longed for win.
wobbletastic, again, a person’s attitude dose not make a driver. every british person and some love hamilton yet fail to see that he is a cocky, up him self so and so (no i don’t like him but thats beside the point), Kimi Raikkonen has attitude problems too (and yes, i do quite enjoy watching him drive and always have) Schumacher had what it took to win and that was the gut to do what ever it took to win. he is a true winner, not a gentleman, his job asked no more of him than to win, did it?
Webber must never win. The Australian F1 commentators would be unbearable. They already blame other drivers when Mark runs into them. A win from Webber would cause me to seek asylum in some Africa country as a political refuge.
Go Vettel, perfect drive, all we have to hope for now is that the stewarts don’t disqualify him for driving too well!!!
P.S – German and British Anthems toghether, unusual, Has that ever happened in F1 before?
Oh and Wobbletastic, stop being an idiot, schumi was the greatest F1 driver in the last 10-15 years, I would have done the exact same as he did in the heat of the moment. and he was still young back then, but then he matured and hasn’t put a foot wrong since. I am 14 and have watched ever F1 race for nearly 10 years. Just to refresh your memory of how brilliant he was with a car, watch his last ever race, from last and nearly lapped to 4th, now you give that a go!
YES! Another win for Vettel, was in Monza for his first. He really is the next Schumi, how long before Ferrari sign him up?
I don t like the Vettel Schumacher comparisons.
I havent seen Vettel cheat yet.
Great performance by Vettel drove beautifully caught and passed Button after he had pitted and the 1-2 just made it more enjoyable Buemi to me was Brilliant he could’ve finished 5th if the 2nd safety car hadn’t ruined his strategy he seems to be one for the future and who knows maybe this season.
I’m saying this because Toro Rosso made a huge leap this weekend with the STR4 and as they get more performance upgrades and understand their car more they will be on Red Bulls pace mark my words if that were too happen Buemi could mount a challenge for the title now that would be one for the bookies
Red Bull gives you wings, in case of the 2009 cars very ugly wings! Anyone seen MORE action due to this wings? FIA PLEASE BRING BACK THE CARS/WINGS IN PROPORTION, THE 09 CARS ARE SO ANNOYING TO LOOK AT !
George @ 57
I wasnt referring to ‘cheating’ I was referring to the skill of driving quickly in the wet
Wobbletastic @ 39
FYI: At Imola ‘94 the drivers didn’t know about Senna until the race, so how did Schumi know the crash was fatal? And did you see his press conference when he beat Senna’s wins? Crying his eyes out?
Yes Schumi made some mistakes, but they were 10 or 11 out of about 200 races, and i can’t believe that you wouldn’t want your drving skill to be related to someone who smashed nearly every record and built Ferrari up again to great team that it was up until last year
There’s the crying link
Great drives from vettel and webber. but it will be interesting to see, if the red bulls can keep up with the brawns in the desert…
german and english anthems together were also played when schumacher was driving for benetton back in 91-95 and when ralf schumacher won a couple of races for williams in 2001-2003.
and personally i think schumacher was one of the very best drivers in the sport. granted, he wasn’t without faults. but he did everything for a win and that’s the spirit you need to become that successful. senna also pulled some dirty tricks and you wouldn’t deny him his place in the hall of fame…
Now to see where everyone is with their upgrades on in Bahrain.
Vettel was amazing. end of story.
Ferrari have one idiot (Massa) and one unconsistently brilliant driver (Kimi) and a great-but-not-great-enoug h car
Mclaren have two great drivers and a sh*te car
And here is how it killed him.
Tommy #59 you are so right, these are the ugliest cars since the grid-full of dogs in 1974. Plus those genetically-modified front wings are – as I predicted here before the start of the season – getting knocked off far too easily because they’re so wide.
BUT we do have to admit that the racing has improved 100% since last season, and it’s not all down to the weather. The aim for the 2010 regs must be to deliver this quality of racing without the appearance of the cars causing so much involuntary gagging….
And do not forget that on the same weekend, Austrian, Roland Ratzenberger died in qualifying.
“So much for ‘rainmaster’ Hamilton…” Re: Ash.
Lewis’ car is lacking downforce and therefor lacks grip. Pretty much everyone knows this. Given that pretty vital point I think Hamilton did himself, and McLaren, proud today by holding it together the way he did. Why do some people always have to add a pessamistic tone to their comments?!
I told you so.
Great race after all the nonsense (however necessary) with the safety car start.
Some driver reviews:
Best drive of the day: Tie between Buemi and Vettel. Buemi was mixing it up with 3 former champions with ease, he like Vettel could be a future champion.
Worst drive of the day: Hamilton, he looked as poor as Piquet!
Bravest: Hamilton again! Despite the shocking 4 spins at least he tried very, very hard and he has got guts even though he said afterwards he hated the race.
Driver who couldn’t give a toss and would prefer to be back in the garage having an ice-cream: Kimi. He has thrown in the towel already with the championship and it was just a comedy watching Hamilton and everyone else pass him with ease.
Mistake of the day: Alonso coming in to the pits at safety car time which put him at the back of the grid and blinded by spray. Good idea by the team in theory but it bombed.
Grimble #67, hope so2. Must be possible to produce real racing with proper looking racecars, look at Indy or A1, they look even better than this yrs F1!
btw .. if you look it the video´s of last year there was the plenty of overtaking, maybe less at the front but look at Monza 08, slipstreaming all over the place behind Vettel!!
Oh how I hate this yrs cars, can´t get used to it and when you hear people around you they share the opinion, ugly Lego cars, snowplows, stuff like that.
Even a wheelchair looks better than this yrs F1!
F1 should really invest in a sprinkler system at the tracks where the tracks randomly get wet during any GP weekend. It should be random so no one knows when and how severe the ‘rain’ from the sprinklers would be.
Charlie @ 73
I c u have the top gear book too.
Great race! Apart from Vettel, I loved watching Buemi carve up 3 world champions. Even though I’m not a Hamilton fan at all, it’s good to see him fighting back after 5 spins.
Congrats to the Red Bull team.
go vettel!
we r in 4 a gr8 season!
look at buemi go!
gotta feel sorry for sutil!
and what the bloody hell has happend to ferrari?
great qualifier and a great run at the chinese gp aswell!!!
I’ll give it three days until Flavio has a pop at Red Bull.
Hey hey! I just found out what Global Warming has to do with F1, its causing heavy rains on the wrong times..!
I guess the Ferrari’s have this “sort-of” habit for random race retirements, eh?
But still, I wouldn’t bother if Kimi retired randomly, but why Massa? Why the lad with the real determination and passion?? Why?? Oi, Ferrari! Switch Massa’s car with Kimi’s!
FAO BBC: Eddie Jordan is annoying. Keep Mike, facts without ego.
FAO dunthepunk: Eddie Jordan vs David Coulthard is funny, Mike is annoying
“So much for ‘rainmaster’ Hamilton…” Re: Ash.
Lewis’ car is lacking downforce and therefor lacks grip. Pretty much everyone knows this. Given that pretty vital point I think Hamilton did himself, and McLaren, proud today by holding it together the way he did. Why do some people always have to add a pessamistic tone to their comments?
well if you followed properly you would notice that heikki kovolinen is a driver for mclaren as well and he did not put a foot wrong in the same car, so just for once admit that there is more missing than just a grip…
Mlcaren heavily revised the aerodynamics for this race and the double level diffuser. their aerodynamics was up with the brawns so that is why they were not stuck back in 15th, they had a lot more downforce.
Ferrari should get Vettel, together they could dominate.
Piquet has class? I know I’m not the first person to say this; but who could say he has class when I can run Shanghai faster than he drove yesterday?
I feel sorry for Toyota, though. Timo started from the pits and only managed 7th, while Kubica was literally leapfrog-ing Jarno; and Red Bull just got their 1st win.
@ Comment 52, there must be a time Webber wins, I hope. I know Greg Rust & Cam McConville (the Australian commentators) will be… you know…, but Mark is a great guy in F1. Did anyone noticed how graceful in defeat he was on the podium? Did he – in any way – look so pi**ed off after his team-mate beat him to Red Bull’s first victory – that he had been working so hard for? No, right? Not that I know of anyway.
I fail to see why Mclaren felt they had to one stop, they were up there durring qualifying rounds 1 and 2, I feel they could have done better on a 2 stop, the wet tires didnt have enough longevity, they had a chance at least at a podium. I wouldnt be surprised to see the Mclarens on the second row at least next week and cant wait to see what they can do in spain. I think though Hamilton pushed a little too hard in some of the corners and that cost him 4th.
Ferrari really has to get a move on though, I fail to see how they will win any championship this year at this rate.
It was a surprise to see Vettel win from pole position let alone Mark Webber making it a one-two finish for Red Bull. The Safety Car start was a bit boring and no action but who cares! The race eventually started properly and off they went. If I was driving and needed to pit then I’d try to do it first as then you could climb the grid places whilst everyone else pitted. The only thing could about having a Safety car is that you can admire the beautiful Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG; an amazing car!
I felt quite sorry for Felipe Massa and Ferrari as Massa’s engine had a failiure and he just stopped! He was in 3rd position too, what a surprise!
the only class Piquet have is his name.
After 3 GPs my 2 cents:
I’ll mark my bets for future world champions bty putting their names betwees **xxxx**
I’m sorry a bit for **Raikkonen**; as I am a great fan. Obviously these 3 gps it’s not his fault: the car lacks pace en last year they fought the championship to the last race (last meters)
So the had a signigicant shorter time to develop. End of story. Is that an excuse for a team such as Ferrari? I don’t know. I’d say it isn’t but same thing goes for McLaren. Although they’re already bouncing back. Which is good for them btw. And anyone who says **Hamilton** isn’t much of a driver: wel p*ss off. He’s managed to do reasonably good with a car that is…hm…crap.
And while I’m working on my disapointments list: Why oh why is Nelson Piquet JR. still in a F1 Car???
Last year he did poor, even for a rookie, and this year he’s doing, well, not much better.
It takes courage to admid you’re not fit for the job, but I would keep the honour to myself.
Make way for Bruno Senna. He’s got the name and if you look at his results I’d say he’s pretty talented & he had The Fire.
Meanwhile there is that Sebastian Buemi showing us there is absolutely no lack of great new drivers , and that his great performance in Melbourne wasn’t just beginners’ luck or a lucky shot but sheer talent. I’ll be damned if he doesn’t get a podium this year. (Granted: the circumstances will have to be exceptional or so…but like Vettel last year I see him doing great things. Maybe a third or so. Or better who knows. Fact of the matter is I already like the guy A champion? We’ll see, that’s a bit to soon. But I’m tempted to say yes.
Brings me straight to red bull; happy for them: it’s a joy to see the talent of **Vettel**. I like his spirit & passion (remembering Australia where he didn’t want to give in to Kuca. Alright, maybe a bit immature but I showed he isn’t going to settle with a safe second or third place but goes for the win each time. A racedriver, like they were first meant.
And it would be great to see him in head to head battle with the other greats: Jenson, Rosberg, Massa, Raikkonen, Alonso & Hamilton.
Mark Webber? Happy for him to,…finally.
**Nico Rosberg**? I’m still waiting for him to get in a good car so he can become world champion. Make no mistake: I like Williams but….
**Alonso**. Well, he to is doing the best he can with the car he has. And in the qualifications that proved to be damn competitive, and I expected to see more of him in the race. But allas….anyway I’m not concerned about him: though not a fan I think he’s a colourfull drive and maybe the most “complete” on the grid. Capable of incredible driving, a great car developer & a motivator (or “pusher”) for the whole team… not afraid of doing some badass statements gives a lot of spice to the sport. And it’s just a matter of time before he’s world champion again.
And then there is Brawn. I had to laugh out loud hearing Ross’ reaction in Flavio Briatore’s critique. (Ross Brawn replied dead calm: “Change the medication” )
As four you guys I don’t know, but I’m still enjoying their fresh breeze and seeing **Jenson** where he belongs: on top, and it’s hard not to be happy for him and the whole team altogether.
And for the Belgians on this forum. Don’t know if you’re in to GP2, but if Jerome D’ambrosio has to make it into F1 than 2009 has to become his “moment/season of truth”. (or that were the speculations) Anyway: if you look at his results from 2009 so far: they’re all consisten in the upper regions. So he just might be up there next year. . .
I still like the comments about Ferrari getting Vettel. Have you seen the pace of Ferrari compared to Red Bull. I am sure Massa or Kimi would rather be in a Red Bull at the moment. You know, so they can win stuff. Also Kimi drinks Red Bull.
Now the Podium. Vettel looked like he was in a daze not sure how he got up there. Mark was struting like a Super Hero. Jensen looked like he was trying to quietly hid in the background. The press conference was even better because you could see they wanted to have playful shots at each other. A lot better then the usual suspects from last year who just wanted to say their bit and get the hell out of there. Too bad the questions from the press are a bit too serious. It would be great to see the new podium sitters playing playful “Mind Games” in the conference. And comments like “So’s your mamma”
My favourite bit of the program was Martin Brundle telling one of the other TV channels he booked an interview with Alonso months ago so he could go first. Absolutely classic moment, the pit walk is always fantastic!
Oh, and well done to Vettel and Webber and of course Red Bull. Good to see some overtaking yesterday as well, and the Mclarens catching up Barrichello towards the end too, hopefully a sign of things to come…
@Mikeado
At least it won’t rain torrentially in Bahrain.
Did you not see the Moto GP in Qatar last week end? Geographically they are only a stones throw away. Apparently it only rains 6 times a year in that part of the world. Moto GP got two of those days so four left for F1!
Mike Gasgoine was good but he seemed very nervous, and I did enjoy the grid walk with the combined forces of brudel and DC.
Good result for Vettle and Sebastian Buemi is on top form, I would not be surpirised if he got a podium or two this season.
hoping for no rain in Bahrain.
@ Grimble They really were god-awful, but strangely, my favourite F1 cars (probably the thing with me and lotus. I love lotus’, I’ve only ever had 3 cars, 1st car- VW Polo then Lotus Elite, now Lotus Elise. The best car in the world.)
And I do have the carpet mats!
And Stirling Moss’ generation were some of the best too.
Hamilton had tire problems, and driving in those conditions is a lottery. Given the right car and some luck, he could have done well. It is also unfair to compare him with Heikki, totally different driving styles and aggression levels.
I really don’t see the point in “armchair” F1 drivers criticising raining world champions. However, having said this, I do think it’s time Nelson Piquet strongly considered a career change…
Nelson, why am I even paying you to do this?
Hamilton Did spin abit… alot but to be fair if he haden’t then we couldn’t have watched him cruise by Kimi what was it 3 times?
If it wasn’t for the one mistake i’d say Webber was just as good as vettel, he was matchin lap times with him for pretty much the whole race, and when he did make a mistake he past the Brawn again in no time!
Will the Red Bulls Be as fast as the Brawns in the Dry?
Well Done Vettel, I reckon he will win the world championship this year he has true talent!
Nicely said Flavio Briatore!!!
F1 driver with a sense of humour shock!! Vettel is the perfect antidote to all the smug, pseudo-cool personality-free clones – he’s very likeable, unaffected and of course, probably the best all-round driver on the grid (along with Alonso).I really admire what Brawn Gp has accomplished so far but I would love to see Vettel become champ this year
Correction, GERMAN F1 driver with a sense of humor shock! Some F1 drivers have a sense of humor, Hamilton likes Cool Runnings remember, oh, bad example….
Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber did so well on Sunday in China, kudos to them and atleast Vodafone McLaren Mercedes have some points now, best they have done this season, lets hope it continues and I have to agree with ‘Speedmarque’, if Hamilton had the right car he wouldve done much better, but what can ya do ayyy? I hope McLaren pull somfin out the bag quickly! Even if McLaren can make some minor improvements to the car im sure Lewis can still bring it home this season through pure driving skill. Apart from what happened in Malaysia how he still manages to make it from 18th on the grid to 3rd, to me proves that he is the best driver on the grid even if he did get stripped of his points, Id like to see Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button try and do that even if they are talented drivers. A dry track along with an improved MP4-24 and Lewis can still do it along with Heikki.
Does anyone know what car Vettel drives? Because Hamilton has got a Mercedes GL! YOU’RE EARNING MILLIONS MATE GET A PROPER CAR!!!
@comment89 Wow someone is a tad biased. I thought Vettel just looked pumped. Mark seemed relieved, and Jenson looked happy as.
Doesn’t Hamilton have some deal going on? If he wins two titles Mclaren are going to give him some $1 million car? Sorry not too clear on the details.
If Lewis can secure another 2 world titles he will be given a McLaren F1. Very nice I have to say!
I read that they played the wrong anthem, since Red Bull F1 is an Austrian company. But actually it should have been I Believe I Can Fly, of course. Yeah, it’s crap. But sooo applicable.
Lewis will secure 2 more world titles, only he’s not going to get one of them this year.
Its gonna be Button or Vettel this year for sure.
Red Bull is Austrian but the team is based in gud old, sunny England.
Sorry I made a mistake in comment 102, I meant to say what happened in Australia not Malaysia when Lewis went from 18th on the grid to 3rd haha! weren’t thinkin straight! But yeahh 2 more world titles and its his but its not lookin so good for him this year, we will have to wait and see.
I think it’s about time the BBC got rid of the half wit of a commentator Known as Jonathan Ledgard i don’t know if thats how you spell his name and quiet frankly i can’t be bothered to learn his name.
He isn’t worth the effort.
If i was him i wouldn’t embarrass myself and show up for the next race.
Totally inept and out of his depth.
Bring back James Allen all is forgiven (well not quiet)
Apart from the dullard commentator all is good about the BBC Coverage.
NO! No James Allen ever! Bring back Murray
D – Lewis will get this McLaren F1 LM if he wins three drivers titles: http://www.topgear.com/uk /car-news/mclaren-p11-20 09-04-16
They only ever built five of them, and Lewis will get the one that’s at McLaren’s HQ.
I assume he has to be driving for McLaren when he wins both of them too in order for Ron to give him the car!
Whilst Ferrari have been abysmal by their standards so far, Massa was third/fourth when his car conked out, meaning he actually drove well in the rain ! He was one-stopping too, so if the car hadn’t died I don’t think Ferrari would still be pointless this year. Whilst he didn’t last the whole race, its disappointing to see he wasn’t commended once over a very good drive.
Thoroughly gutted for my man Sutil though. Best drive of the day by far (nursing the tyres, slowest car on the grid, mixing it up with former champions with ease, just as Buemi was strong). If he isn’t the one who gets Force India’s first points he’ll be gutted, after coming so close twice, with him being unable to do anything to avoid that which stopped him scoring.
Brawn should be very worried of Red Bull, especially with a new diffuser coming (eventually). One wonders how many of Honda’s and Branson’s millions Brawn has left to spend on developing those cars.
Maybe James Allen and Jonathan Leggard are related…
Nice!!!
i think Ferrari is not going to do well this year.
You are mainly brits (those of you with nice comments here) with no car industry anymore, what about three Renaults starting from the first grid???
)
Its a shame Webber has to see Vettel wins First place por Red bull Racing
I’m starting to become convinced that Legard is looking at data screens and reading notes instead of watching the race.
On Sunday, for instance, while Webber was battling Button and they were overtaking each other, he’s off babbling about God knows what, before cutting off mid-sentence and shouting annoyingly “and Webber’s in front of Button!!!!” Yeah we know, we saw it half a minute ago while you were prattling on about front wings and tyre grooves. .
Also, I think its pointless to talk about which teams belong to which nation. They’re all international groups, really.
Even Force India. Sure they have ‘India’ in their name and an Indian team principal; but their technical director is British, their drivers are German and Italian, they use a German engine and their base is Silverstone.
Even this USGPE outfit coming in; half of their conception team, Peter Windsor, is British-Australian. They’ll have a European base as well as an American one. And the word is that they’re considering the use of Cosworth engines.
Basically, a lot of nations have their fingerprints all over these cars.
Well done Red Bull! To be honest I thought you weren’t going to win, I thought Button would win…. Anyway, well done.
Does anyone else think Vettel is the next big thing in F1?
@Dr.Who – Personally, I think Vettel is the CURRENT big thing in F1
I think he’s a genuine contender for the 2009 title if the Red Bull can consisently be on the Brawn pace. I’d even bet on Vettel to win in a slightly slower car than the Brawn but we shall see – what an exciting season awaits 
Vettel reminds me of Schumi’s Benetton days. His career seems to show similarities. If BMW and Mercedes will be sleeping Ferrari will be his next step.
Though the cars were looking way better in those days! Hope the FIA changes that soon! Remember the early 90s Williams and Ferrari’s, those were proper good looking cool racing cars, much better than the Lego snowplows which are filling up the grid now!
@104 D.
Vettel is my favourite driver, since Coulthard left. I have liked Vettel since he was brought to my attention at the Fuji race where he smacked into the back of Mark.
I like Mark now since he stopped blaming his bad resualts on the car and engineers. Button is good to go for now he has calmed down with experience.
I stand by what I saw, not by being biased. I do hope we will see more of these 3 up there.
Seen Vettel testing at Monza in 2006. Still can’t understand how Mario Theissen did let such a talent walk away. Guess he must feel as sick as Eddie Jordan did when Schumi left his team after just one race ..
It was good to watch as eddy jordan was realy annoying in the first 2 showings of the GP.Glad he wasnt there
Comment 119 Andy well said.
I am also convinced that turd of a commentator is reading from a sheet.
I mean the conditions nearly as bad as sepang at one point and the noob was going “dya think it’s time for inters?”
You could feel Brundle cringing in the back ground he is that bad.
i would be just content with brundle by himself.
why do you need someone there to undermine him?
Leggard, better style than James Allen, but he adds nothing. For BBC viewers it’s worth forsaking Martin Brundle and listening instead to David Croft and Ant Davidson. Much better pairing. Would prefer if they recruited JA and asked him to zip it a bit.
Toyota were unlucky at China, Glocks car problems in quali and practise meant that he had to start 20th and in the pits. He ended up 7th, which tells you what might have been had he started further up the grid. However Trulli was dog slow and he obviously isnt comfortable in the wet or something werent quite right.
Red Bull got a 1-2 but had it been dry, the Brawns would have pipped them I think.
Ferrari need that KERS back and really need upgrades fast!
Mclaren were impressive, but had it been dry they wouldn’t have been placed that high. Car isn’t quick enough by a long way.
Finally Force India were the unluckiest, were in for 3 points, but unfortunately it didn’t go Sutil’s way.
hamilton sadly is nothing special just a bit better than average…
nice driving vettel gj
Red Bull cars were faster than Brawn in Q2 by .4 seconds. They would have pulled away in the Dry. Also in the dry Alonso would have come into play.
Lewis Hamilton sucks
Lewis Hamilton is old news, now on to the real talent
Lewis Hamilton has always been old news. he just goes on to prove, give a fantastic car to anyone and they will outperform even the greatest drivers driving Hyundai Excels in comparison. Vettle won in one of the Scuderia STR Ferraris and what is that compared to THE Scuderia Ferrari or Mclaren Mercedes? absolutely nothing. Vettel is a great driver and with a car to match, it would be devastating for the rest of the field.. you hearing this Ferrari (build a good car and buy Vettel basically)
to post 130, Ferrari don’t need KERS, having the weight where ever you want it seems to produce better lap times than having an 8 second burst or what ever it is of 60 or so KW/lap. also, Mclaren got the diffuser and totally reconstructed the aero so they were always going to be fast in this race.
Honestly I don’t see anything exceptional in Vettel’s driving in winning the recent Chinese grand prix to compare him among the great F1 wet race drivers such as Senna and Schumacher. His No.1 grid position obviously gave him a good head start and the clearest vision ahead and never did I saw him made overtaking maneuvers that are nothing short of spectacular. It’s more of: He just drove intelligently enough to control his car and maintained a decent distance from the closest pursuer. By the way, why wasn’t Webber accorded the same praises and comparisons as Vettel? His second place finish to his team mate is just as commendable.
NO! I oin’t think he has done a lot spectacular driving yet!
Senna and Schumacher had done a lot of spectacular driving, overtaking, and other moves aside from winning a lot of races plus world titles before they got accolades as “king of the wet races” or “master of the wet” and comparisons to the previous F1 racing greats! Now here comes Vettel with only 2 career wet race wins(without even doing spectacular driving moves and without even coming close to winning a world title ever)already reaping a lot of accolades! How unreasonable(and BIASED?)!!!
It is a bit much that Vettel gets all the accolades while Webber has to sit quietly in the corner. Webber has done so much development on the Red Bull cars & Vetel has reaped the rewards of Mark’s hard work & perseverence. I think clear vision had an awful lot to do with Vettel’s win. I think it would be intersting to see not only if Webber would have won if he was on pole, but if Vettel could have done as good a job as Mark from 3rd on the grid.
Vettel has the talent. There are great racers like Webber, Heidfeld etc. There are only few like Vettel. Like Jacky Stewart once said about Senna, ‘he has the finest chip going on’, ‘talenta naturale’ (Enzo Ferrari’s words).
But true, want to c Vettel fighting with Hamilton like Mansell and Senna and Schumi and Senna.
Hope we are not facing boring period like the Schumi days at Ferrari, the Vettel guy is lacking charisma and the cars are much uglier these days pff.
Hamilton is still a great driver in the rain. Anyone would have had trouble with that car, even the new “golden boy” Vettel. Hamilton’s McLaren was set up way too stiff. If you paid attention in qualifying, his car was lifting the inside wheel like crazy.
A car that’s too stiff + rain = you’re going to have a tough day.
Anyway, as fun as it is, we should all back off with the name calling and such. Let’s just enjoy the variety of winners we’ll see this year. The complete opposite of the early 2000’s Schumi years.
And while I admit Vettel had an amazing drive, you have to admit he had a huge advantage being able to drive with a clear track ahead of him and being able to SEE and all.
Brawn should have checked the weather channel website with a little more care and run their cars light in qualifying so that they could start at the front. The time gained from being able to see the track ahead was much greater than the time gained from running a heavier fuel load strategy.
Use some of that computing power from your CFD systems to predict weather patterns. I’m sure you’d be able to get at least a decent prediction of the weather conditions 24 hours in the future. Or not. Who knows
Anyway, congrats again to Vettel, Webber, and Red Bull. Great strategy and a great performance.
Go Brawn and go McLaren…quicker please!
Why do people think Hamilton is a bad driver? I can’t understand it! I think it’d be a bit of a challenge to convince anybody the guy who came 2nd in his first Championship and won the next one is a bad driver…
And for all the ‘he’s in a good car’ nonsense remember so was 2 times World Chapmion Fernando Alonso…
Fact is, and you won’t like this, you’re WRONG! Get a grip
Hamilton can’t be a “bad” driver. He is after all in F1. But the bloke is an over rated arrogant little so & so. He’s just not very likeable.
In F1 more than any other motorsport I believe the car makes the driver & unfortunatly it has been that way for the last 10 or so years. Take Shumie out of his Ferrari & put him in one of the Arrows cars for his era & his results would have been drastically different & anyone who believes he still would have won a championship in that car is a goose. When Alonso’s car was the best on the track, he won, now that it’s not, he doesn’t.
With some luck we will have a variety of winners from different teams this year & see some over taking on the track, not in the pits. But realisticly, I think the season will end up being dominated by whatever team comes up with the best package by race 8.
Be aware Schumi drove Ferrari to 1st championship after 20yrs ! What he did was amazing ! Remember his first whin for the Scuderia in the rain in Spain ?
Fear Ferrari might slip back into the prior to Schumi chaos days, though those were the days tifosi cheered the loudest for the prancing horse! (remember Mansell or Alesi driving the Ferrari V12s…watch youtube and enjoy the sound of these beautifull racecars!)
Randy, Ferrari and Schumi became champions mainly because of the combined talents of Ross Brawn and Jean Todt. Brawn and Todt made Schumi and Team Benneton champions when they were together way back then.
Of course he does. He has skill, arrogance & previously a good team & car. As for racists, what has skin color got to do with anything? I don’t give a damn if he’s a blue & orange dwarf. Besides I’m not racist, I hate everybody equally. If people want to be honest, some drivers are better than others but engineers & budgets win races. The driver is only a tiny bit of the puzzle.
i recon its great to see red bull get their first win but i recon button will win his been on the podeaum every time so far and his f****** brittish the germans think their so good but well so them
come on and chat if any on e there ill be here till 4:15
:)
hahahahahaha
good bye
First two races Button, third race Vettel Mclaren and Ferrari struggling with the new contenders will Hamilton ever get pole or even another podium…….the eras of Schumacher and Senna are gone now is the time for the Mavericks!!!!!!!
TiTi_Nyo_Supot, Mr Todt never worked at Benetton.
He was at the Peugeot Le Mans project those days,
after being the man behind the Rally Group B succes. He only started at Ferrari during 1993.
Schumi was not the most likable person but you cannot deny his talent. Part of this talent is also group the right people around you to make a winning team!
82 Re Edgars. If *you* followed properly you would know how to spell Heikki Kovalainen.
Sorry Randy, my mistake about Mr. Todt. But I still say Brawn and Todt are the main reason why Michael Schumacher became what he is now, and NOT mainly because of his driving skills. I still believe Fangio, Senna, and Prost are far greater than him when it comes to driving talent and skills. Yes its true Michael is the winningest and holder of the most records in F1 history, but for me that doesn’t automatically qualify him to hold the title of “Greatest F1 Driver Ever” it should be more of “Winningest F1 Driver Ever”! So, ESPN, your F1 driver poll result is inaccurate and misleading!
I wonder if Mark Webber has forgiven Vettel for Fuji 2007. If not, there just might be a very akward team dynamic after Vettel got Red Bulls First win. By the way, could this be the first team with 2 interesting drivers at the same time?