9.4.09

The Spanish GP was notable for two main reasons: a consummate performance by Messrs. Button and Brawn to win, and it was generally a boring race, I actually fell asleep at one point - just like the good old days! There were a couple of flashes of action and I do not include the multiple pile-up on the opening lap which elimated Trulli's Toyota, Sutil's Force India and both Tori Rossi.

Rubens Barrichello had been one fire for much of the weekend but Jenson Button nicked pole on the very last lap of qualifying, crossing the start finish line just 1.6 seconds before the chequered flag which signals the end of session, which Ross admitted was a bit too close. Ferrari got it wrong again, with Raikkonen eliminated in Q1 and starting in P16 after a decision not to go out again, or maybe he fancied another ice cream.

At the start, a pumped-up Barrichello took the lead from the second row passing Sebastian Vettel, who made a poor start, and Button. KERS whirred Massa past Vettel, who fuel corrected had the quickest car. The shunt brought out the Safety Car for three laps and at the green flag the Brawns made a clean getaway. Fernando Alonso used KERS and the grass to get past Webber's Red Bull on the startline straight, but the Aussie wasn't having any and firmly re-took the place up the inside of turn one and kept it all together, so lots of cojones all round.

The Brawns pulled away in front as Massa struggled to stay ahead of the Red Bulls. After the first stops Barrichello got away from Button. This revealed one of the factors which decided the race. Brawn GP's original intention was to three-stop both cars. Button started lighter and when he failed to take the lead and draw away his strategy was compromised, so Ross decided to change him onto a two-stopper. Critically, Button emerged from the pits ahead of Massa and Vettel.

Ruben's stayed on three stops and with his lighter car pulled away from Button, but by no means enough and at his second stop he fell behind not only behind Button, but Massa and Vettel too. Ruben's last chance of a win finally disappeared when he had bad understeer on his last set of tyres. Post-race he clearly wasn't happy and the toys came whizzing out of his pram. Later he threatened to quit immediately if there was any hint of the team favouring the Briton. Ross was quick to re-assure him, but Rubens is clearly still harboring a lot of resentment from his Ferrari days where he was forced to play second fiddle to Michael.

Massa and Vettel were eliminated from contention as the Brawns blew them off in the final stint. This was partially due to the Ferrari and Red Bull being on the hard tyres, but tyre choice and the car's ability to use them is as much of the race as the driving bit. It wasn't quite all over as Mark Webber had taken on a big fuel load at his first stop and he struggled to keep the heavy car in contention. This he did and it enabled him to leapfrog Massa and his team-mate at their second stops. He closed up to Barrichello but could not get past; the Barcelona circuit design defeating even the mighty brains of the FIA's Overtaking Working Group, but he was on the podium for the second race in a row.

Massa was already struggling to fend off Vettel, when we heard Rob Smedley instructing him to save fuel. It seems there had been a glitch at his last stop and he couldn't be sure of (enough) Shell, actually running out on the slowing down lap. He finished sixth. Raikkonen had retired early on and, although an upgrade had given Ferrari better performance at this race it's clear there is a very long way to go. Massa says there is no hope of the titles. A small consolation is that he did set the fastest non-Brawn race lap.

Fernando Alonso drove his heart out in his Renault tank to finish fifth, overtaking poor Massa on the last lap. Heidfeld passed Rosberg in the pits to take seventh, leaving the latter with the last point. The Williams is a Double Diffuser car, but they just do not seem able to convert speed into results. Speaking of which, the other "DD" team Toyota's early challenge seems to be wilting. They qualified sixth and seventh, Trulli was eliminated in the opening lap shunt and Glock got stuck behind Hamilton. McLaren's recovery faltered too as they were miles off the pace all weekend.

Off-track, the war for the future of F1 has gone very serious with Toyota saying that they were considering their position in the light of the £40m budget-capped/two-tier F1. Dietrich Mateschitz went one better when he announced that his Red Bull teams will not enter any cars next season unless the rules are changed. This was followed on Tuesday when the Ferrari Board confirmed that it too will not enter the championship next year unless the rules are changed. Renault followed them the next day.

There has been talk in the specialist media of the FOTA teams racing elsewhere, and even buying out A1GP, which is basically skint, binning the cars and running their own cars to that calendar. I cannot imagine the FIA and Bernie making such a move easy! Older readers may remember that when Group C sportscar racing rivaled F1 in popularity in the '80s a rule change to F1 spec. 3.5 litre engines, rather than production-based ones, effectively destroyed the category. Thus "encouraged" the manufacturers went into F1, taking with them the money which made some so rich.

BMW are yet to decide on their position, but Mercedes-Benz have said they will not withdraw next season. Brawn, Williams and Force India would be there too. Given the modern motor racing infrastructure, a bunch of additional Cossie-powered cars with Ricardo gearboxes could soon be knocked up to make up the numbers. Such a scenario would prolong the current breath of fresh air blowing through F1. It might even be more exciting as long as the new teams have sufficient freedom of regulations to prevent a rout by the establishment. Also the Brawns might have to be handicapped a touch - like Ross being locked up for the weekend.

I really enjoyed the late '80s where there were 1.5 turbo 4 cylinders and V6s and 3.5 V8s and V12s, with a host of small teams coming and going and fun and farce and pre-qualifying. The earlier 'DFV era' was OK too, though we did get very excited whenever the odd Matra V12 or Tecno flat 12 appeared. However, throughout all this, F1 only really worked because Ferrari was there as a constant force and the benchmark against which all others were measured. Even when they were going through one of their bad periods, the others could revel in our suffering, but we knew our day would come again.

Unlike the last time this flared up, Ferrari seems to be with most of the others The fact remains that Ferrari is the only team F1 needs to be credible. Who really gives a damn about the others, especially as most are remote badge-engineered satellites? When you own, drive or even ride in a Ferrari you can feel that heritage, that passione. The rest is all corporate vanity, BS and marketing hype. Long term, a budget-capped F1 might even be to Ferrari's advantage, as long as their budget is suitably adjusted to reflect their importance to the sport.

It might not even be a bad thing for Scuderia Ferrari to miss F1 next year. It would give them time to re-group and "do a Brawn". "But what of Ferrari's continuous history of participation in F1?" I hear your anguished cry. Lending a couple of cars to someone like Prodrive or Litespeed would provide an answer. There is a historical precedent when John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini were entered for the 1964 US and Mexican GPs by the North American Racing Team. Who knows, the Factory might even benefit from some fresh Anglo-Saxon input.

A budget capped F1 would allow Ferrari to pursue a more diverse competitions programme. We Tifosi could enjoy howling V12 Scuderia Ferrari 666SPs thrashing the rattly diesels of Audi and Peugeot. Luca di Montezemolo starting this year's Le Mans 24hr race might well also signal the start of Ferrari's triumphant return to La Sarthe. Now that little lot would give Schuey something proper to get his teeth into!

In reality, this is of course a complete fantasy. It will all be sorted out by Bernie and, significantly, he is attending the FIA/FOTA meeting today (15th). He has already confirmed Ferrari is the key.

Finally. A plea to the BBC on behalf of race fans everywhere:

Get rid of Eddie Jordan!

I've never heard such a load of egotistical, incomprehensive, psychobabble in all my life!

Stefano Domenicali

Felipe Massa

Kimi Raikkonen