Rosberg answers critics in emphatic style

An interesting race that came alive towards the end and well done to Nico thoroughly deserved...a very likeable chap who has been waiting to long for this moment.
Would have been interesting to see what the Mclarens could have done if they had not been stuck behind slower cars for most of the race. Also the Red Bulls race pace was very good despite there difficultys Mark to a solid 4th and Seb Bieber driving well on a 2stoper. Roll on round 4 and hopefully a Mclaren 1-2 on the cards.
And the random chinese guy interviewed on the BBC F1 forum saying bbc coverage better than Sky.....priceless LOL

well done NICO .....Loving the Hamilton consistency......how many times in the last 2 years he would have killed for a third place.....still Im a bit troubled by his race day pace......Button looks much more nippy and assertive....but after a year like last year he is right to be cautious,he just dont need to score any own goals ,eventually his superior qualifying will pay off.......Button can afford to make mistake and be patted on the back by the media for effort........Hamilton will be instantly crucified

On the race itself it was an epic failure for the first 48 laps, horrible race the worst of the year by a mile but the last 8 laps were by a mile the best and most exciting of the season. The Maldonado/gresjean battle was the pick for me and then the Webber/Hamilton battle. The race only came alive when Vettel collected enough bottle and tried it on Kimi, then that led to Kimis plummet downwards.congrats to the Williams lads, the world’s fastest chef (kamui) and Vettel to be honest,15th at one stage but that was good driving but did he actually overtake anyone?
Again McLaren wreck one of their drivers day, this time it was button and it was a costly error, I’m still amazed that they are still employed to be honest with all the mistakes they make for jenson and esp. Lewis. They are consistently the slowest of the top teams. Great drive by Lewis could or would he have won the race if the penalty didn’t occur? Probably not that McLaren doesn’t have good race pace to be brutally honest and jensons was good again, good day for them but I assume they will be bricking it now for the rest of the year with that merc speed.
The DRS zone was a total waste of time to be honest they are trying to make it more difficult than last year but they wrecked it, should have been at the top of the straight where the cars were rolling through the gears for maximum effect, it was a disaster .
I hope they don’t give Lewis a penalty for the weaving he did once but I wouldn’t be stunned to they do give him one. The race imo was a 7/10 it would have been 9 had it not been for the most boring 48 laps of my life.
Lol at the Chinese man “lao” on the f1 forum, he was great and spoke the truth about the BBC and sky, man those 3(dc, ej and jh) in china are probably more famous than the drivers. Does anyone actually know whether the Chinese TV rights are shown by the BBC? I love the f1 forum and the BBC coverage and I despise sky and their organ grinders. Lol did anyone notice Natalie Pinkham in the background during the lee McKenzie interviews, looking like a loaner then fake smiles when getting the drivers after the lee has asked the important questions, great job to the beeb team off to Bahrain and highlights for me.

Lao- the voice of reason.

I have never doubted Rosberg's ability to deliver a win and appeared only a question of when not if after Merecedes rolled out their most competitive car for three years.
After the scrap that was going on behind it was mostly about keeping it on the track more than anything and I dont think Button would have caught him even if not for the ballsed up pit-stop.

The DRS zone was a major failure this weekend, going from one extreme last year of too easy to the other extreme of too hard this year. I agree with adrenilenepotato in this sense of no DRS action, how do you think the DRS zone worked this weekend and what are your thoughts on the use of the system?

Grosjean/Maldonado and Hamilton/Webber were the pick of the race and Williams should be proud of their efforts so far this year considering their drab year in 2011.

What are everyone's thoughts on the use of DRS this weekend?

I would disagree with your statement about Rosberg never transcending the potential of his car. Think back to 2009 when he was consistently getting 4th/5th places whilst his team mate didn't score a single point. I dare say none of the greats would have been able to do much better in that car.

Congrats to the Merc lads, can't believe they did a two stopper in the car that is meant to chew up it's tyres worse than Kimi did!

Wonder if Merc have sorted the tyre issue and if Rosberg can keep his tyres if he is racing behind cars as well? Or can they keep their tyres good in the upcoming 'hot weather' tracks compared to McLaren? Would have been good to see what Schumacher could have done.
Anyone see just how bad the marbles were near the end of the race, Canada will be a joke.

Can't understand why some, like Perez or Alonso waited so long to stop when their lap times were so poor. Webber had a mess of a race, running off, running wide with bad overtakes, nearly flipping, but he passed loads of people because of the pit early undercuts.

That Ferrari is pathetic, after 3 stops on fresher rubber Alonso still couldn't compete with both Williams and the Sauber on two stops, plus Massa was one of the slower two stoppers despite defending well. Also how slow is the Red Bull in a straight line.

Roll on the next race, hope nobody gets hurt in the inevitable protests.

It's all speculation as to whether Lewis could have won the race had he not had the 5 place grid penalty for a gearbox change prior to the weekend. Would Rosberg still have nailed his start had it not been his own team-mate in his wing mirror when the lights went out? Perhaps, perhaps not.

What is certain is that Rosberg had the pace in that Mercedes from the get-go this weekend regardless of what had went on behind him, and thoroughly deserved his victory.

I don't even think that Jenson would have made any in-roads into Rosberg's lead had he not had the unfortunate mishap during the 2nd pitstop, as he still would have had to have had made up a deficit of over 10+ seconds. Contrary to some posters on here, the wheel gun was to blame, not the mechanic operating it during that incident.

I'm quite impressed with Lewis' improved attitude this year thus far. Quite content to quietly pick up points and keep the scoreboard ticking over, instead of allowing himself to get frustrated and try some ill-thought out attempt to overtake that may result in an abrupt end to his race with no points gained.

Today we witness a prime example of why the DRS doesn't work. At one point, there must of been a train of around 4-5 cars for 10 laps in the race that didn't budge because the effects of DRS on that huge straight were negated because cars 2-5 could each engage their DRS system, thus cancelling each other out. The train simply got slightly more bunched as the race went on, until the pit stops allowed one individual to jump another during the tyre changes.

Great coverage once again by the BBC, but honorable mention must go to race-goer Lau, criticizing both ITV and Sky in one foul swoop, whilst praising the host broadcaster. No danger of a plant there Beeb? :-)

@JJone_s

the drs is a complicated one,i like it because it improves the racing on a somewhat boring/awful track(abu dhabi,spain,just to name a few) but some of the rules can be tightened up like following someone who you arent racing,backmarkers where the drs is permitted.

but overall i think the fia havent a scooby on how to use it best because it is too easy or it is too hard but at least they are trying something right?
i have a bigger issue on the tyres but that is for another day

Living in Finland, I have to pay for F1 but naturally the comm is in Finnish. This race I decided to stream the UK comm in the back ground (a few sec out of course) but found Brundle to be the best between Sky and BBC. Can't stand the other guy who is on Sky (no idea who he is) but listening is always going to be better than what the BBC can offer. I sometimes think the BBC forget or don't realize that Sky has wanted F! for ages and now Sky have a foot in the door, they ain't going to give it up. As long as Sky wants it, they are here to stay and if BBC think they will get all the races back, say in 5 to 10 years time, they are very much mistaken since Sky can always offer more money than the BBC could ever do.

Anyhow, I enjoy the race but was a bit disappointed how Button couldn't pass SB due to the poor DRS. Why can't the F1 bosses organize a mini race with F2 or F3000 (not sure what they are called) or even old F1 cars (3 to 4 years) where a number young drives / test drives could test the DRS areas on the Friday. Once they get correct point / ares they won't need to do it again as the area could be used year on year.

Button for Champ :-)

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Thought they got the DRS bang on.

Not too many easy passes in a straight line which lead to great racing like the Maldo/Grosjean/Perez battle. Also the Button Vs Vettel Vs Raikkonen Vs Webber Vs Hamilton near the end, where the McLaren lads were made to work a bit for their overtakes - far better than a button press overtake.

Forgot to add. If RB thinks the Merc DRS system doesn't give them 0.5sec advantage, then he's having laugh. He knows how good it is :-) Expect to see similar systems on the other cars soon. My guess Button's and Ham's cars will have it soon :-)

I also found it a dull race until the last 8 laps. There is too much debris on the circuit to allow for more aggressive driving, it becomes a procession again, until the last 8 when the 2 stoppers tyres degrade completely and they go backwards.
Also McLaren need to sack their race strategist, taking Hamilton from 3rd to sit in the middle of a group of 2 stoppers to allow Button and Rosberg to disappear into the distance was unbelievable, is this the only way they have of stopping Hamilton racing and beating Button. Lewis, we all saw it, but I am sure your class will show through keep up the good work.

Congratulations to Nico Rosberg on finally breaking his duck, with a great win following a fantastic qualifying performance.

Also, congratulations to McLaren's No.1 driver, Jenson Button on another racy performance and a well deserved second place. That's what I like about Jenson, always racing and making great overtaking moves stick. I think McLaren should sack Whitmarsh for deliberately ruining Jenson's race in the final pit stop by ordering the pit crew to mess up his tyre change to allow Lewis to catch him up. But Jenson fended him off with his aggresive driving style and tried for the win, overtaking a gaggle of cars in the process. Much more exciting to watch that Mr Boring, Lewis Hamilton, who has yet again played the precentage game by finishing in third place for the third race in a row. It may be earning him points, but it's boring to watch!*


* copyright Lewis fanboys, 2011 season.

I think the balance between DRS and aero disturbance (from the car in front) is now just about spot on. The wheel to wheel racing in this GP was some of the best in decades, with all kinds of crazy moves being pulled - and succeeding - in the seesaw action.
Enjoyed Raikonen's drive, though clearly 2 stops was 1 too few for him and he ended with no reward when his tyres fell off a cliff.
It would have been interesting to see if Button could have hauled in Rosberg without the pit balls-up, and the race would have been even better for it. Though I suspect there was no beating that Merc today. The good news there is that it's another team in the mix for race wins, and the season is starting to look like it has the makings of a classic.
Great drives from some of the 2nd tier runners just add to the entertainment.

lol yellowbelly,are you a redneck aswell i cant decide whether you are being sarcastic or not,hamilton is by a mile the most exciting driver in f1,whereas i love jb he drives like i did on my driving test when i was 17,go and find your cousin somewhere.but i do agree whitmarsh should be sacked and soon if you ask me

what do you think of the mercedes cars,is this a fluke because of the cool whether,hamiltons penalty etc,etc or do you think it is genuine pace that can be seen on europes tracks and in the desert heat in bahrain,because im totally confused by it,they couldnt string 2 quick laps togather in the 1st 2 races.but i do think this track suited there car with the massive straight but bahrain has 3 longish straights

@15, "..Mr Boring..." you've just brought out all the LH fanboys, this blog will go to 5 pages now!
You couldn't have made it worse unless you'd said Lewis should have been penalised for his weaving on the straight! ;)

Well done Mercedes, Norbert, Ross and the Team - BMW boardmembers, where are you now, it could've been you!

The Hamilton/Button back and forth is embarrassing. Why is it so difficult for people to accept that they can both be incredibly talented? They're both recent world champions, they've both benefited from lucky breaks and they've also both had dreadful fortune at times. They both come across as nice lads and the only real difference is that Hamilton is a protege of McLaren with immense natural pedigree and Button struggled against politics and poor equipment for years before finally getting the drive his talent deserved a few years ago and hasn't looked back. This tribalism nonsense just makes F1 look like a joke. Give it a rest.

Back on topic, I've been hoping for Rosberg to win for a long time, and it's great that he's capitalised on his great qualifying by winning the race with the minimum of difficulty. Here's hoping Nick Heidfeld can finally get a race win now.

First time I've posted on here, but have lurked for a while! Have to say it was a welcome relief to watch the coverage on the BBC - I think the banter and wit between JH, EJ and DC is great. I love the build-up to the race, and enjoyed the radio controlled race between Lewis Hamilton and JH, light-hearted stuff :-) I do have Sky and watch the race and build up on it but it's not a patch on the BBC. Finally, the Chinese guy today on the forum was ace - couldn't have made it up!

Great race, the last 10 laps where sensational. If Jenson's pitstop was smooth then he would've been about 12 seconds behind Rosberg and in clear air. I believe he would've caught him, passing him would've been tricky but with fresher tyres it might've been possible. So a good win for Mercedes but McLaren won't be too disappointed.

Regarding DRS, why don't they let the drivers use it anywhere but for a limited amount of time during the race? For example two minutes worth of DRS for the whole race. The drivers can use it anywhere in qualifying, so I don't think safety would be an issue. Any thoughts?

Firstly what a great race.....to see so many cars bunched together fighting for places. And well done to Nico for getting that monkey of his back and to finally win a grand prix great work from the merc guys. I was more then pleased to see the red bulls not on the podium and to not hear the annoying voice of CH and Mr two fingers wagging his fingers at everyone pure bliss. This does look like a season where upto 8 drivers could be in for a shot of the title excellent work by perreli. Lastly Why are people now more interested in the commentry fight then the race.........I mean didnt the BBC sell us out and now people are going on about how good they are. Yes there was magic commentry last year but, but if you think thats great for 10 races then more fool you because I dont support people that have $%&^ on me from a great height and for sure they will only supply radio 5 coverage next year!

most of the race was pretty broing, the last twelve laps was magical, lol at kimi being 2nd to 14th, and wow the strategies was confusing, i thought kimi was fightign for 5 or 6th place and then i see his fighting for 2nd with vettel hang on wasnt he around p9 and p10 hw did he get up there, this year i think its the closest the teams have been,perez was keeping up with hamilton at the start, the pits again failed for maclaren, when will they sort it out.

as for nico he derserves it, as far as talent goes, he has it, it was good see lewis congratulating nico, he actually wanted to nico to win and get his first win.

and at 15 lol, think McLaren should sack Whitmarsh for deliberately ruining Jenson's race in the final pit stop by ordering the pit crew to mess up his tyre change to allow Lewis to catch him up
you must be crazy, after one mistake you say that, lewis had two pit stop mistakes,

and im sorry button is a good guy, and a good driver, and if you are being honest he doesnt belong with the likes of alonso, hamilton, or even vettel. and as far as overtakes lewis took the same amount as button, button started from 3rd basically after he jumped michael and kimi, and hamilton from 5th moved to third,

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

@15 lol, loving that comment

14@ After todays race you can't be serious in trying to make out McLaren favour Button can you? Did you see Button's last pit stop where he lost about 10 seconds? The reason Hamilton came in at that point where his tyres were wearing out. If he had stayed out much longer he would have been behind that traffic anyway as they would have overtaken them. He had to come in before Button as it's common knowledge that Button is easier on his tyres than Hamilton.

why wasn't Lewis penalised for waving in the straight?

HAHA another Ferrari fail!

Andrew - Gilles Villeneuve never won the world championship.

aww poor Ganulu didn't get his way. Lewis was not penalised because he did not weave. the left is the normal racing line and then went to the right to defend.

Oh and on the race, Anyone got any odds on the chances of Rosberg finishing the championship third behind the two McLaren?

@13: Yes, the Mercedes DRS system likely gives an advantage in qualifying, but that doesn't explain why Nico was able to pull away at the start, and stay ahead during most of the race when he wasn't in a position to be able to use DRS! The Mercedes looks to be a fast car in non-DRS mode too!

@4.rl wrote:
"Lao- the voice of reason."

And passionate about it too.

I think they got the DRS slightly wrong here, only because of the huge trail of cars. Kimi held people up down to around tenth place and none of them could pass until the meat on his tyres were gone.

I think with a longer distance for the DRS zone, only slightly longer, we may have seen a different story. Until then we had to wait till the end for the race to come alive.

What does everyone else think?

Congratulations to Nico on his first F1 win, and what an eventful race! Like everyone else, I was surprised that the Mercedes didn't start moving backwards without their DRS system in the race. They could be serious contenders for one or both of the Championships this year with that advantage; on the other hand Nico has always performed well in China. Time will tell.

why are button and his fans (SURPRISINGLY NOT MR BENSON I ADMIT IT ) want to make it up hes lost the race in his last pit stop... you guys should listen to button biggest fanboy (i mean andrew benson) for once he made sense :)... this race doesnt change my view on the lewis/button/whitmarsh situation..if anything it reinforces it

on another hand very interersting race that was... so happy for nico he deserves it and will certainly be a strong contender for the title, good solid race from button and magnificent lewis who despite perez and massa making their best to ruin his race finished to an impressive 3rd place... the guy is on his way and it was good to see martin whitmarsh not even wanting to spell lewis name.. meaning the young star is doing things right :)

will people ever forgive Lewis for debuting in a top car?......its always poor Button,struggle all his life in a poor cars and never catch a break.... sorry to burst that bubble,Button was cast as a playboy in his early year unfocused and undisciplined....and for that he was passed over for Alonso,

He then spent couple years with Honda, a team with probably 2nd biggest budget in F1....not exactly HRT.....the last time Williams produced a championship winning car.....I think Button could have been driven it ,but he welsh on his contract with them ,because Honda had the biggest budget

He then had one of the most dominant car s in years with Brawn where he deservedly won the championship....and now his 3rd year at Mclaren

so please stop all the victim hood of Button....A black man earns his way to the top and suddenly every white guy feels aggrieved....well not all...

Well done Nico, get some more!

So, so race until the end. Agree with commenter on debris on track, perhaps tyre degradation is going too far - won't need Bernie's hosepipe at this rate, the marbles would do the trick all by themselves.

I'm counting the days before Nico is the new Vettel, greatest driver since... rather than - what's plainly obvious to most- the car is the largest factor in celebrity driver's performances.

F1 is taking a big risk going to Bahrain. shouldn't be going.

@deperer #30 If he left the racing line to defend his position he shouldn't have returned to the racing line again, thats the new normative.

#39 sorry, *normative* means regulation

ohh and i hope the bahrain population will keep on demonstrating against the money greedy decision to allow the race to take place by bernie... prevent the race from occuring and boot all these arrogant millionaires out of the country.. :)

I don't know what Benson's problem is with Schumacher, but it's pretty nauseating having to see every word he writes about him shaped as 'putting the boot in'.

I don't know what it is, but get over it.

He has outqualified Rosberg for the first two races this year, and looked easily more competitive until yesterday, and nobody knows how today was going to go. He wasn't 'holding up' anyone, as you said in one of your other articles. Button was making no impression on him whatsoever, so the least you can do is be balanced. He also could've been on a different strategy to Rosberg today, who knows.

If you need to be so biased, the least you could do is go work for the Daily Mail or something, where that kind of writing is expected, and probably appreciated. You just come across as cheap.

That aside, great race today, and thoroughly deserved win my Merc and Rosberg.

Great race which really came alive - really thoroughly enjoyed the BBC coverage which was 100% excellent as usual (normal service resumed!) Thanks guys and girls - this is why I pay the licence fee!!

Tyre wear will be different in Bahrain at 50 degrees than in China at 25 degrees.
We'll not know for a few races if Mercedes have solved their tyre problems.

McLaren seem to be up front in all conditions so anyone beating both McLaren drivers to the drivers' title will be doing very well.

'Torturous' does not mean the same as 'tortuous'. I suspect you intended to use the latter as it is the more common saying in context.

Lets have some better sub-editing. These blogs are routinely awful in grammar and vocabulary. At least the spell checker seems to work, if the sub-editors don't.

Perpetual Sigh wrote:

The Hamilton/Button back and forth is embarrassing. Why is it so difficult for people to accept that they can both be incredibly talented? They're both recent world champions, they've both benefited from lucky breaks and they've also both had dreadful fortune at times. They both come across as nice lads and the only real difference is that Hamilton is a protege of McLaren with immense natural pedigree and Button struggled against politics and poor equipment for years before finally getting the drive his talent deserved a few years ago and hasn't looked back. This tribalism nonsense just makes F1 look like a joke. Give it a rest.
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Agree with you completely mate. Both good drivers but for some reason Button fans feel they are more mature than the rest of us which is laughable
An example of this; look at POST 15 so so mature!!

My biggest problem i have is the fact that there is a double standard to the way Hamilton gets treated in the media in comparison to the media darlings (you know who they are) apparently because they are more humble.
One has recently been insulting people, giving people wierd hand jestures and all sorts but people are still there to defend him that it s the pressure getting to him!!

But on the matter at hand, BIG CONGRATZ TO ROSBERG! win very much deserved and that quali time was just so....:)

Mclaren again shot themselves in the foot as usual with button pit stop mistake, which even though everyone i s saying Button wouldn't have been able to catch up but i am sure he would have loved to be given the chance, and if Button race form is anything to go by i would bet a few bucks he could ve done it.
Hamilton keep it up mate, and keep that smile you have on when being interviewed.

#37. spactus:

Suggest you check some of your "facts".

Button did have a number of poor cars.

Button was "cast" as a playboy by Briatore, who has since admitted to being wrong. Anyhow, the fact Briatore managed Alonso at the time had more to do with replacing Button with him.

Williams last produced a championship winning car in 97, before Button ever came into F1.

He was then at Benetton/Renault & then BAR, where he finished 3rd in the 2004 WDC behind two dominant Ferraris.

When Honda came in they never had the second biggest budget in F1. Ferrari, McLaren, Toyota even Williams, at the time, had bigger budgets!

Suggest you look into some real facts before sticking the boot in. Unlike the, far, too many who appear to buy into the McLaren/Hamilton conspiracy theories, it's doubtful anybody seriously considers Button a "victim".

Well done Nico, other than the slight detour early doors, a quality drive.

@spactus your entire comment was well reasoned and valid right up till the last comment.

To many, myself included, Button underperformed at the beginning of his F1 career, but at the same time he was given some dogs. Bar/Honda and to a degree Benetton/Renault when he was there were, at times awful..I will disagree with the Honda having 2nd biggest budget, therefor they would be better comment: look at Ferarri this year...enough said. But since he won the WDC with Brawn he's done brilliantly. He's matched and outperformed Hamilton on more occasions than the opposite occurring in recent times. That cannot be argued. It has nothing to do with Lewis being black. Though I will agree that some fans dislike Lewis because of his 'instant' success.

Anyway, back to the race. Rosberg drive fantasticall start to finish. It was a Vettel like drive. Pole to flag with no drama. I fully believe that even if JBs pitstop hadn't gone awry he had more in his pocket. Most of the time when JB was taking a big chunk of time out of him Nico had been told to look after the tyres so, would JB have even caught him? Doubtful I suspect. Great drive by Vettel after a horrible quali and first lap. Perez looked racy and lotus ruined Kimi's race with some suspect strategy calls. It was a thoroughly enjoyable race and I have to agree with Lao: BBC's f1 coverage is the best ;)

First off, congratulations to Nico Rosberg, that is what you call an absolutely perfect weekend where everything just seems to fall into place for you. It was quite a dull affair for the first half of the race but then it just exploded into life and the wheel-to-wheel action was astonishing, the bravery and ambition of the drivers was very exciting to watch. I feel that McLaren really need to fix up their pit team, their always seems to be a problem with their team in the pits and it ends up costing them.

I was very disappointed with the way Schumacher's years gone, he has put in some great qualifying laps and luck just seems to be completely against him. I genuinely saw him challenging Rosberg for the win today.

The BBC program was AMAZING as usual; EJ, DC and Jake really are a great team and their personalities really make watching the pre and post race experience worth watching. I really did miss Martin Brundle's grid walks though, he really is the king of them. I watched the first two races on Sky and I can honestly say it doesn't really match upto the BBC's coverage in any way.

Really really looking forward to Bahrain and this astounding season.

He's matched and outperformed Hamilton on more occasions than the opposite occurring in recent times. That cannot be argued.
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why cannot that be argued ??? of course it can... if you take all the datas you will find button is not dominating at all

It seems these posts are filled with small children with unhealthy fantasies oncertain drivers.

Lets put a few things to rights here.

After qualifying the Mercedes DRS system gave them no improvement, because Nico didn't have to use it, apart from swanning past backmarkers. His race pace was excellent, and his tyre management was even better.

Mclaren did not ruin Button's race, he was highly unlikely to have caught Rosberg, and the team covered for the mistake of one member by still getting the second place Buttons driving merited. The one thing it did mask was the actual difference between Hamilton and Button. Without the delay, Button would have been much further from Hamilton, and for what its worth, would have outperformed his team mate for the second time in three races.

Button did have some dogs to drive, but some of that was self induced by poor career choices, and once he settled himself and found a mentor in Ross Brawn, he looked a different person and driver.

The regulation changes on exhaust blown diffusers seems to have unsettled Vettel, whilst at the same time regenerated Webber. Look at the 2 drivers now, and you would think Webber was the World Champion.

DRS worked as it should, and when there are loads of cars in line astern, only the man at the front is at a disadvantage, credit should go to Kimmi for holding up the field as long as he did. DRS today required the drivers to get the exit to the straight better than the car in front, use the tow, and then DRS gives reward for those things coming together.

Anyone know the respective viewing figures for bbc and sky?

Roomurrhamil: Too right the Bahrain Grand Prix shouldn't be happening but with the teams scheduled to be there Tuesday I can't see what we're going to do about it now.

Right now I'm praying to whoever's listening that we have a relatively normal race weekend and Human Rights Watch doesn't declare war on the sport afterwards. Emotionally I'm not sure how I'd handle the alternative. Yeah I know, some hope.

All I know for certain is that if things get ugly in Bahrain in any way, the future of F1 cannot be taken for granted and I don't want our great sport to end that way. Be careful what you wish for.

. The one thing it did mask was the actual difference between Hamilton and Button. Without the delay, Button would have been much further from Hamilton, and for what its worth, would have outperformed his team mate for the second time in three races.
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loll is that a joke or what ??

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The regulation changes on exhaust blown diffusers seems to have unsettled Vettel, whilst at the same time regenerated Webber. Look at the 2 drivers now, and you would think Webber was the World Champion.
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so vettel was only good because of of the blown diffuser?? gawd almighty some of these button fans are hilarious..

Just a minor point - he's only the second son of a former World Champion to win a Grand Prix. Gilles Villeneuve was undoubtedly a great driver, and a legend of the sport, but he never won the World Championship. Rosberg's still the third son of a previous Grand Prix winner to also win a race though, to my knowledge.

Maybe this will open the floodgates for Rosberg, given that he's got a decent car underneath him.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

@xpres1001

see you later than dont let the door hit you on the way out,leave the bbcs brilliant commentry to the millions of us who appreciate class,and you can join the 500,000 or so that sky cater for,who get a channel for free for the 1st year then that no. will drop to around 100,000 and you can enjoy that gopod l;uck so i guess you wont be coming back to this website then,:'''''( so sad,actual not :))))

@50 Roomurrhamil It can only be argued if you are incredibly biased. The results do not lie. Last year Button had the better of Hamilton, at the signifcant majority of races. This year it stands 2:1 to Button; with Lewis ahead on points due to his steady consistency. Ironically the very thing his most vocal fans criticised in Button in 2010/2011...but had Jenson not, by his own admission, made a bad and uncharachtetistic error in Sepang it would probably read 3:0 JB. That's what I mean. Hamilton is better over one lap, for sure, and he often puts in a faster "fastest lap" in races. But he has also, over the last 24 months, made more mistakes and lost more points than Button has. I consider Hamilton a more talented driver, and have never claimed otherwise, and it's great to see him achieving some level of consistency so far this year, both for the racing, and as a British F1 fan who wants British drivers and teams achieve race victories and win championships. He has though, in recent times, been far more erratic, far more error prone and far more petulant than Button. Do I find JB easier to like? You betcha. Is he a talented guy. Sure, you don't win races and championships by accident. Did he last year score more points than Hamilton, indicating better race results, yup. How is it that you intend to argue that? All the Hamilton fanboys give the rest of his legit fans, like myself (and Mr Benson I'm sure), a bad name, and it get's pretty annoying after a while.

Interesting race, congrats to Rosberg and Mercedes, promises well for an exciting season.

Benson obviously under pressure to produce blog quickly, but criticisms of poor style are valid. Being a professional writer means you should be able to write quickly and well. The paragraph trying to explain that Rosberg joins Hill and Villeneuve as sons of champions should be pulled and re-written. Apart from the grammar, no excuse for the mistake ref Villeneuve snr commented above @29.

Agree that Button is now a credible force, but he wasn´t before the magic Brawn half season! The "wilderness years" were as commented above, pretty much down to his own devices. Interesting comment about Brawn as his "mentor". The one time JB was in a good situation with BAR was when Dave Richards took him in hand. JB´s contract machinations were pretty much why Richards was removed from the team, which went backwards from that moment on.

Considering how Red Bull academy drivers are treated, JB´s extended fallow patch is extraordinary . This isn´t to say that JB isn´t a good driver, but literally hundreds of good drivers have been dumped by F1 before they had the chance to finish a multi-year apprenticeship.

58 jaysus !! but im starting to think there fake posters on here... :)

For anyone who dislikes Hamilton for his "instant" success needs to calm down a bit.
First of all nobody disliked Jacques Villeneuve for winning races in his first season, and the World Championship in his second season of the then-dominant Williams cars. In Formula 1 if you have the talent you invariably will get to a top team like Mclaren eventually. Hamilton got picked up as a youngster purely because he was talented, just as Button is now at Mclaren because he has worked hard and shown his class by taking the Championship in '09, so the fighting between fanboys from each corner is ridiculous, they're both British and both drive for Mclaren, if either wins the championship this year i will be ecstatic, because they are our home drivers, we should support them both equally, same for Paul di Resta.

Great race today, Rosberg did an excellent job and finally deserves his win, he could challenge for more on that form, possibly Michael as well, who looks a lot quicker this year again. Good to see Williams coming back.

at long last Nico has won and it would be nice to have Jenson and Lewis fighting for the title against Nico

At 19:38 15th Apr 2012, roomurrhamil wrote:

. The one thing it did mask was the actual difference between Hamilton and Button. Without the delay, Button would have been much further from Hamilton, and for what its worth, would have outperformed his team mate for the second time in three races.
_______________________________________

loll is that a joke or what ??

-----------------------------------------
The regulation changes on exhaust blown diffusers seems to have unsettled Vettel, whilst at the same time regenerated Webber. Look at the 2 drivers now, and you would think Webber was the World Champion.
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so vettel was only good because of of the blown diffuser?? gawd almighty some of these button fans are hilarious..


i dont think that the poster was saying that Vettel only won because of the blown-diffuser. Vettel is a great driver, but thats it a DRIVER, he is not a racer, over the past 3 years has he passed a driver from the top 3 teams cleanly? not that i remember. last year the only overtakes i remember was on the first 2 laps after a pit stop when the he had fresh tyres, and he only seemed to be interested in trying to overtake Kimi, once it was obvious that his tyres were about to "drop of the cliff".

i have to say i agree with Button when he says that the drivers only think about the DRS, it dominates their thoughts throughout the race, you only have to look at Lewis, he was a monster of an overtaker before the DRS came along.

3 races, 3 different winners and a 4th driver heading the title race, 3 other world champions and exciting talents in the chasing pack. looks set to be a golden season we all anticipated. just wish there were more races (in europe?) with full grandstands like it deserves...
still early days, but would love to see jenson and lewis fight it out, a classic match up of experience versus youth. i hope they can stay friendly til the end of the season because its likely they will come together at some point. but if they could, it would show how inspiring sport can be and be a great example to the kids. this has never happened between drivers in my lifetime i dont think (im 40).
congratulations rosberg, commanding drive, button might not have overtaken him but he may well have put some pressure on him... yet another mclaren mistake (so many over the years its routine, unbelievable for such a quality team) gifted a first win to rosberg, never a good idea as he will grow in confidence.

The problem with the DRS comes when the 2nd car in a chain has lousy straight line speed. He cannot overtake even with DRS but those behind cannot get by because they have no DRS advantage.

Or put another way, blame Vettel... :-)

You brits are so crazy no!
Why do you so not like both your british drivers? Why not also mention how your other brit is doing? Paul....
You are lucky to have a great british pair, both that race in big british/bahrain team?
Both GREAT drivers!
Why do you, how you say "bash each other" about who is best? It sounds so like little girls at a boy band concert!

Today lewis drove the best I think, he had more work to do, but both did very good driving with take-overs all over everyone.
Rosberg had it easy, lets see what he is like when he has a car like mine in the pack, no. Lets see if he can pass cars like me?
Anyone can take pole and run away at beginning, it's easy. Try going fast when you are passing cucumbers on a straight when your car is not on wings!

Also, love BBC, LAO & I hate SKY! OK maybe I like natalie! But NOT THE REST!!!

Ciao for now my F! friends.... & like you crazy brits say, cheer up!

I wish you all would stop with all the RACIST stereotype and characterization Of Lewis Hamilton
Lewis is a young man in a competitive sport .....words like petulant is what you use to describe an unruly child......and when has Lewis ever acted petulant or throw his toys out of the pram.....when has any of this ever happened

We have seen Schumacher ,accosted Cuthard,man handle Sato,deliberately take people out of race ,squeeze Ruben against a wall in a very deliberate and dangerous way.........yet people like Lauda acting Lewis is the most dangerous thing they've ever seen in motor sport

Although Schumacher was criticize for those action there is a sort of quiet respect for his ruthlessness....Lewis has done nothing that even comes close to the motor sporting crimes that shumacher has committed

Since Button has joined Mclaren words like less intellegent,less of a gentleman,taz,brut forcer.........all negative racial laguage use on people of colour when comparted to white........Jenson was never known as a intelegent,strategist untill he was up against Lewis...........

No other pairing of Driver in the last 20yr have been compared to each other in terms of intelligence

Even in the schumacher dominant days all the praise and recognition for strategy went to Ross Brawn............But now Martin whitmarsh announces and proclaim that its Buttons executing strategy while driving

you see the propaganda war.......How dare this guy Hamilton try to be great....how dare he fight to win every race

Its quite amazing that almost all of the white exdriver,exchamp...are in Buttons Camp....the ....Cuthards,Brundles ,Hill.......very tribal to say the least

we have heard all these negative stero types used on other top black athletes who make break through in traditionally white sports.......THE williams sister were talked about being about brute force,...Tigerwoods in the earlly days all about brut force

while the whites were all intelligence and finest........Ring any bells

Tortuous, the word is tortuous. Not torturous. Completely different meanings.

Amazing that Mercedes have won their first Grand Prix since 1955. Acquiring Ross Brawn must be a large part of it, but it is clear that Schumacher, whilst nowhere near his best, is still very good and Rosberg may just have it in him to match his father's achievements. MacLaren is clearly the team to beat though, but with seven teams in the top 10 standings, this looks to be an open season.

i dont think that the poster was saying that Vettel only won because of the blown-diffuser. Vettel is a great driver, but thats it a DRIVER, he is not a racer, over the past 3 years has he passed a driver from the top 3 teams cleanly? not that i remember. last year the only overtakes i remember was on the first 2 laps after a pit stop when the he had fresh tyres, and he only seemed to be interested in trying to overtake Kimi, once it was obvious that his tyres were about to "drop of the cliff".
________________________________

agree but how do you explain hes not dominating webber ?

Yes amazing, but when will Schumacher win if at all this season? He was falling behind Rosberg and was then behind Button following the pit stops. He needs to improve his race pace at once to stop it becoming embarassing. It was another weird race with weird results, so Mercedes are best in cold weather and Mclaren are best in hot weather and Ferrari and Sauber are best in the Rain, ok I get it.

The debate of who is the better driver between Hamilton and Button is getting boring now. They are totally different characters, in and out of the car, have different styles of driving, have had different journeys in their F1 careers. Hamilton edged Button in the first season together, Button edged Hamilton in the second. I think as Brits we are very lucky to have two very talented drivers to follow and support.

I wonder where Button would of finished if he didn't have a terrible pit stop, but I don't think he would of catched Rosberg

#3 it was truly LOL watching Natalie Pinkham in the background for looking like such a loner

Great BBC coverage as always and Lao deserves a medal of honour.

Hopefully Bahrain wont be as boring as it has been - that is probably why the Beeb is not showing it live. Best to watch the highlights.

roomurrhamil: i would suggest that Vettel was just better dialled into the blown diffuser set ups than Webber was and thet he leaned on the Blown Diffuser more than Webber.

dont get me wrong I really dont think that Vettel is all hes cracked up to be, and i think he believes the hype that Red Bull have created for him, and i think that he has not yet proved himself.

GirlyF1fan: as someone else said, what about Paul?

and what about Susie (stoddart) wolff, getting the development drive at Williams, i always felt she was seen as novelty value at Mercedes in the DTM, I hope she gets a proper chance to prove her ability in F1.

im not going to bother watching the Bahrain race, as it will inevitably end up being disrupted by some kind of attack.

Bernie i hope it doesn't happen but if something does it will be on your head.

@73 wrote: I wonder where Button would of finished if he didn't have a terrible pit stop, but I don't think he would of catched Rosberg

Um, he finished second, since he could only have got quicker without the poor stop, and you think he wouldn't have caught rosberg anyway, surely you think he would have finished, well, second?

Have to agree with all the posts saying to calm down on Hamilton vs Button. Both fantastic drivers, both very different people, and it's all got to be personal preference, there is no overwhelming evidence in favour of either. Both brilliant, and both British :D.

It is unfair to say that he only succeeded at the 111th time he tried. In reality for the last 20 years only about 5-6 drivers in any given race have had a realistic chance of winning. The rest are merely trying to finish above their teammates and the other teams about their level. F1 is 90% car and 10% driver. Rosberg has only had a competitive car for 3 races.

What a race! Definitely waking up early for in my opinion. It was a bit of a slow start, but built up to a great (if somehow inevitable) conclusion. It beats having to tentatively avoid the highlights for the day. On that note, for races BBC don't show live, any chance of not putting the result/winner/main story on the main BBC page? Instead, put it as the main story on the Formula One section? That way, anyone actively looking for the result can see it, while those of us (like me) who instinctively type "BBC Sport" don't waste four, five, six hours of waiting around!

On a side-note, sorry to be annoying, but here is my take on today's race, hope you enjoy it and it makes you chuckle!

https://doug-elder.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/ok-i-like-formula-one-again.html

I agree with many of the above posters, that the Jenson v Lewis argument is getting quite boring (and I think it was largely media created and driven to start with). So I find the comments that it would be 3-0 to Jenson this season, if only Jenson had not made a mistake in Malyasia, a bit ridiculous - because he did make a mistake. Similarly the talk about Jenson outperforming Lewis today ignores a fundamental point- of course, Jenson did have a better race result, but if Lewis had not had the grid penalty (which was no fault of his own, just as the mess-up at Jenson's pit stop was no fault of his), it surely would have been him challenging Nico for the win.

*Worth waking up for

It's staggering how anyone would compare Button's racing talent with Hamiltons. And it's also sad to see ex-drivers like Lauda slating Hamilton for the slightest mistakes while they go quiet on other drivers who do the same.

Hamilton is well regarded and liked around the world except continental Europe. I'd like to know why the media and ex-European drivers brand him this way.

One observation after 3 races is the effect of the last change to the points system which seems to go against what was intended..

When it was changed we were told that it was to give greater reward to winning races and whereas under the previous system second got 80% of the winner's points and third got 60% the new system gives second 72% but leaves third at 60%.

As a result Hamilton is currently leading the championship with three third places whereas under to old system, Button would be leading on count back.

Obviously this is a function of having three different winners and will sort itself out over the year such that it is unlikely that the eventual champion will not have won at least as many races as the guy who comes second, but one can't help feeling that the current driver's table, where a win and a second now ranks below three third places doesn't reflect what was intendede when they changed the scoring.

roomurrhamil: i would suggest that Vettel was just better dialled into the blown diffuser set ups than Webber was and thet he leaned on the Blown Diffuser more than Webber.

dont get me wrong I really dont think that Vettel is all hes cracked up to be, and i think he believes the hype that Red Bull have created for him, and i think that he has not yet proved himself.
________________________________

agree hes not all that...

Among all the usual mass hysteria, one thing stood out in this race, basically confirming what has been showing already. Unless Red Bull or Ferrari can up their game quickly, this WC will be between Button and Hamilton, with Nico as the possible spoiler. No one else has the pace to challenge the McLarens (who are already looking like front runners)

Only disappointing thing from today's race, not seeing how well Schumacher would've gone had he not been forced to retire, not saying he'd have stayed with Nico, but would've been interesting to see how he'd gone.
A good race all round, with most people being in contention for some decent points at different stages of the race.

Maybe Bahrain (if nothing happens between now and then) won't be a total bore fest.

Got a way for the beeb to improve their coverage, sack Gary Anderson, he just looks like he's bothering people all the time and he got bullied out the way by Ted Kravitz when interviewing Ross Brawn straight after the race, and replace him with James May.
After watching his coverage of the national, the beeb need to get him commentating as much as possible.
Get the TG on the red button for Silverstone?

"Tortuous, the word is tortuous. Not torturous. Completely different meanings"

DAMN YOU AUTOCORRECT!


Why read this when you know Benson was watching an entirely 'alternative' race. Lose the blog bbc * yawn *.

Anyway, sky sports f1 is live from bahrain next weekend. Whats the point in this BBC F1 joke now?

Great to see Nico get his first win, I think hes much better than his record shows.

Lewis has long suffered with his bungling pit crew which has sparked little or no debate. Now Button has been badly affected twice now by his pit crew it will be interesting to see if there is more focus on this issue.

i'm just glad Massa was not in that train of cars fighting for 2nd otherwise there would have been a collision ;)

Benson realises he's been rumbled with his attempts to undermine Hamilton and should continue to keep his comments on Hamilton to a minimum as per the last couple of blogs.

Just for the record Benson, I don't want you to artificially hype him up like you do with your best mate Jenson but just report the good and the bad equally and stop refusing to report anything that makes Jenson look bad while doing the reverse for Lewis.

Afterall you and I both know that if it was Jenson who was destroying Lewis 3-0 in qually it would be plastered all over your blog.

Like every other driver on the grid Hamilton will have a bad race at some point and I'm sure you're sharpening the knives just waiting for that day.

Looks like you'll have to wait a bit longer!!!

The BBC grid walk before the race was pure class!!!! it was like watching the Keystone Cops.

After the pundits have called in all their usual favours by getting an interview with Jenson and Redbull they were completely lost.

EJ was truly embarrasing, what a mess!! I think they're missing Brundle.

The Schumeister was robbed!

Just for a moment imagine if kubica and shumacher were both inloved in the train during the final moments of the race! epic..... get well soon Robert!

and can everyone pls stop arguing about lewis and jenson, we all know lewis is quicker and is a pure natural talent like senna. whilst Jenson is occasionally quick, smart and makes very good race winning descions; a very similar situation occured in the late 80's with prost and senna at mclaren.

But we all know who is remembered as number 1....

@90 Agree with you about the gridwalk, a bit of cringe-TV. Though I'm not a fan of hers, I think Lee would do a better job.

Apart from that, so good to have a full length live show, will make the next highlights pill so much harder to swallow.

Some breathtaking action, and a great result, it's fantastic to see any driver get their first win. I suspect Nico will be back on the podium again this season, would be great to see Michael there with him.

@78 Good blog, worth a read.

@ 29 Banburyhammer wrote:

"Andrew - Gilles Villeneuve never won the world championship"

You are quite correct Hammer. The irony in this being that he almost certainly would have done (if he hadn't been tragically killed) in 1982, at the expense of Niko's father Keke - who took the title that year in somewhat dubious, and extremely sad, circumstances......

@3.
At 15:41 15th Apr 2012, adrenilenepotato wrote:

the world’s fastest chef (kamui)

=========

Nice of you to point out who the chef was, as I'm sure most right minded people would have been left clueless as to who you meant. Though you may want to check out his details, it seems Kamui has never been a chef or indeed in the catering industry in his life. Unless of course you are hinting at something there. I do hope not though, that would make you sound a tad racist.

As for the race itself, I was almost prepared to switch it off after 40 laps... glad I didn't. Amazing end, the Grosjean Maldanado bashing in particular.

Ignoring everything else about the last race, I think that it showed that the DRS system is a bit silly. By all means allow teams to tweak settings whilst the cars are pitted, but doing so from the cockpit 'on the fly' and then only allowing that adjustment in certain areas and complicating that requirement that insisting that it not be used unless there is less than a second's gap between the 'wannabee' behind and the 'imherealready' in the front is mindbogglingly odd.

My understanding is that there is a small number of adjustments available to a driver already. These are not restricted. I think (I expect vociferous responses) that if movable aerodynamic devices are to be allowed then they should be able to be used at any time and in any place on the track.

Whilst I'm at it: Why, oh why, do teams have to use a certain number of tyre sets of differing characteristics during a race? By all means allow the teams a choice of tyre from the chosen manufacturer (I shall grumble about that another time) but to make it a requirement baffles me.

Perhaps I'm easily baffled. To me F1 has always been about innovation within reasonably broad requirements as set down by the ruling body. Other than safety - for drivers, spectators and officials - surely the idea is to have a race, a competition, car and man versus car and man and devil take the hindmost?

I really wonder about the appeal of Formula One - it so often appears to be all about the tires (tyres?), the weather, the team orders, the latest semi-legal gizmo... everything BUT the car, track, and driver - but at least it's better than NASCAR...

Nico, it's about time... (!) precisely BECAUSE you ARE an outstanding driver who DOES transcend an average car, routinely... (Only the Button/Hamilton obsessed, German-phobic British racing media can possibly have failed to notice all the 3/4/5/6 finishes over the past couple years, but they can be forgiven, I suppose - they are perhaps the most enthusiastic motor sports nation on Earth, after all... if you don't count the millions of US fans watching their heroes driving around in circles each weekend...)

Congratulations, Nico! Well done, looking forward to more...

There should be a BBC comments-only F1 blog titled "Lewis Vs Jenson" where we fans of those two amazing British drivers can go and flail at each other every time there's a race.
The Button pit stop - what a nightmare. I actually fancied him to catch Rosberg until then. Lewis spending time held up behind Massa and then Perez - that's why it's called a race. So long as neither Massa nor Perez broke racing rules - fantastic. Granted, the Lewis of last year would likely have crashed into Massa anyway, so thank heavens he didnt (it is a little annoying, though, to see Massa give Lewis such a hard time - and then open wide and let whoever comes after Lewis have a free ride).
Drive of the race for me: Lewis. Good consistency, paying off now, and those overtaking moves were fantastic.
Anti-drive of the race: Alonso. Must be always need team orders to get past his teammate? What a shame.
And Massa needs a new sport, maybe Indy Car or something.

who wants to bet that Webber was told to hold station behind Vettel in those final few corners?

its interesting that after Malaysia Vettel said it was no use walking around smiling, when you are not happy, and after Qualifying he was telling Lee he wasn't happy, but was smiling away. looks to me that Red Bull has a quiet word with him.

Never knew there was so much venom between some Button and Hamilton fans. Very strange. What better situation then to have two different and very talented British drivers driving for a British team.

My four year old son who likes his formula 1 thinks they’re both AWESOME. Some of the posters on here should take note.