After years of two faced behavior in Formula 1, FIA has decided to abandoned the ban on team orders. It was a stupid idea as there was one. Of course team orders exists in any team sports. Ferrari was against the ban and gave the team orders in an obvious way and got in trouble for it. Other teams use team orders in a hidden manner and got away with it. Not only without sanction by FIA, but without criticism from the two faced, mostly British, media commentators. Now, that the ban is lifted we will see better racing and less posturing by teams that the two drivers are competing against one another. And maybe, just maybe, we will see the constructor championship back to where it belongs: The highest crown in motor racing.

So, in a year with an amazing number of changes: new point system, the return of Schumy (not to Ferrari! ), no Kimi, Mercedes now is a team, and Alonso races for Ferrari, we enjoyed the first race. Mostly because Ferrari made a 1-2 and we haven't seen many of those in the last 5 years. The formula that Ferrari had with Schumy seems to work as well with Alonso. Just get the best driver and have the best car (or almost), that way the other teams can't close the gap with only a very good driver. Of course, as I say every year, the season doesn't really start until we get to Europe. But last year wasn't like that...

Also, I am not going to do as much writing during races, after all, we have twitter for that now.

...The Constructor Championship, which is the only one that matter.

You know that great race we saw this morning? You remember the most exciting last laps we have seen in years? Well, forget them. The FIA has decided to declare them null and void. The judges in the Spa race today have decided that Hamilton gained an unfair advantage when he cut the chicane today. It is true he cut the chicane, it is true he passed Raikkonen, had he stayed in front I would have to side with the judges, but he returned the position, did it immediately and, after being behind Raikkonen, started fighting again immediately and passed him in great form in the next turn. The rule says do not gain unfair advantage by going outside of the track. To me that means one thing: If you gain a position, give it back! It doesn't imply a certain amount of time that you have to be back! It is ridiculous. A casual reader of this site knows that I am a Ferrari fan and that Kimi is my favorite driver from the current line up. As a Ferrari fan my antipathy for drivers of others teams is proportional to their talents, hence I hate Hamilton with vehemence. But even I have to say that this decision by the judges is one of the most unjust I have seen in a very unjust sport. It smacks of Ferrari favoritism. I want my team to win not to be handed a charity trophy. Ferrari, and Massa, should reject the points.

After a strike of bad luck and bad decisions, that continued today affecting Kimi Raikkonnen, Ferrari finds the winning ways again. This time in a real race, that is one where passes are impossible. Still, the Constructor Championship is up for grabs and the Drivers Championship is still lost at this moment.

Massa wins Hamilton with an excellent three stop strategy to beat Raikkonen for Number two. Kovalainen far away. Alonso number 6. It is funny to read some Spaniards in twitter complaining F1 is boring without Alonso winning... Hey, if you are not a fan, you are not a fan!

Great race for Kimi and Massa, Hamilton did his job, but doesn't shine. I bet he misses Alonso. Kovalainen out on a huge crash, but he seems to be Ok, with only bruises in his legs and left elbow. But all that opaques the real story of the race, which is the improvement that Alonso has made on Renault's performance. It is clear that the car is better, because Piquet is doing better. His and Alonso's early exit from the race prevented us from seeing really how much. But it is clear that Renault is the fourth team. I bet it will keep improving. What an opportunity wasted for McLaren, they could have dominated F1 for a decade!

Great race for Ferrari and, specially, for Massa. Hamilton shows with this race and the end of last year that a big part of his success was due to Alonso preparing the car. As soon as Alonso got angry, Hamilton performance went progressively down. In this race he show he's lacking as a pilot. Not so much for a bad start and a stupid crash, those can happen to anyone, but because he was unable to regain positions in the slowest part of the field, which he rejoined in 18th place and finish the race at 13th. Massa showed confidence. I was expecting this race to be a mess with the sand and the lack of traction control, but it seems that the pilots are learning and they played it safe. I find it astonishing that McLaren blew last year. They could have been champions last year with Alonso and this one with any of the two. Instead, they are fighting second place with BMW. As a matter of fact, BMW is leading the constructor champion right now, while Ferrari is an ascending second.

Kimi wins a normal uneventful race. Of course for that, the McLarens had to be punished for something that happens in every qualifying. Massa is out with what I think is a consequence of the lack of traction control. I bet we will have two types of races. In traditional circuits you will see most people having trouble with the car, and since once you lose traction is hard to get it back at those speeds you will see a lot of people out or losing lots of positions, like we saw in Australia. On modern circuits you will see a more stable picture, but still some will lose it like Massa this. The only question remaining is if some drivers, eg., Alonso, are so good that they will not make a mistake in modern circuits and few in the traditional ones. That and a little luck could mean a higher place in the championship than the car may merit on its own.

Hamilton wins the Australian Grand Prix. Only seven cars finished the race. Is this what the lack of electronics will mean? I see at least three incidents, not counting Kimi's craziness, in which the lack of traction control took people off the race in a dangerous way.

I think of this move of Nelson Piquet on Ayrton Senna at Hungaroring 1986:

Jackie Stewart said of this move: "It's like doing a loop with a Boeing 747..."

So, Ferrari wins everything this year! Or rather Ron Dennis and McLaren screw up so much that not even with the best driver and the best rookie they manage to win a single title. Jordi came to watch the race with us, but neither expected this. At least we both wanted Hamilton to lose. Be clear about this, McLaren problems are not its drivers. It is Ron Dennis (Wrong Dennis? ) he is well past its prime, he just can't manage to keep up with the times. What should McLaren do? Talk to Hamilton and convince him that he should be a second driver for next year. Make Alonso stay and win something next year, then stay with Hamilton and hire a good friend of him to be a second pilot. Am I happy for Ferrari? Well, yes, sure. But I think this gives Jean Todt too much power. I'd rather have Ross Brown and Schumacher manage the team. Now, we just have to wait for next year... With a lot of pilot movement around: Will Coulthard and Barrichello retire?

I haven't been much of a fan of the current season. But yesterday performance has to be commented. Who runs McLaren? Bush? Bozo the Clown? Chavez? come'n! First they spy on Ferrari, then they spend millions on a World Champion just to mistreat him so much that he spills the beans on the spying. And they lose the Constructor Championship on that (the only one McLaren or Ferrari should care about). Now, on the brink of winning the driver championship they forget that wets go bad when the pavement dries and do not call the point leader, on a race where he could have sealed the championship, even after he lost the lead due to the tyres! If I were Hamilton I would be pissed...

Dedicated to all those McLaren fans that consider Michael Schumacher a Cheater... Ron Dennis and McLaren have received the harshest sentence in the history of the sport. Even the The New York Times had to report it. Luckily, the drivers were spared. McLaren has been stripped of all points these season. Hence, Ferrari is likely to win the title by this weekend race. Furthermore, Mr. Dennis and McLaren have bigger problems as the italian justice is on the case and they will not let it go easily.

What we are witnessing in Formula 1 is the continuing cowardice of not doing the right thing and let muddy waters prevail. For the sport it's much better to do what the italians tend to do. Punish hard and hope that with time things return to normal. What you can't do is punish in a confusing way. Take the latest punishment for McLaren and Alonso. You know I'm not a fan of either, but why were both of them punished? If Alonso purposely stop Hamilton in the pits against team orders, why was the team punished? If, on the other hand, it was the team that was holding Alonso, what should he had done? run over the team because he is so conscious of how timing is going? A pilot has to let certain things to the team, he is not the king of car and road, no matter what this decaying Formula 1 wants us to think. What did Alonso do and when did he do it? What did Dennis knew and when did he knew it? The spying case is much clearer and grave, but it hasn't been resolve with the expediency and clarity that it deserves. This is a bad omen for the sport.

I can't believe Ferrari made a 1-2 at Magny Cours. This will be the last Magny Cours in a while as the circuit is out of favors with the F1 Bosses. Hamilton third and makes it to eight straight races climbing at the podium. Alonso with bad luck manages to arrive seven, and shows the McLaren as a very sturdy car. This is a fluke, I bet, we'll get back to normal schedule promptly.

Hamilton takes another convincing win at Indy. Ferrari very far behind, the only positive is that BMW had trouble today, particularly Heidfeld, so, Ferrari may hold onto second place. How sad. My theory is that Kimi was signed by Todd, who says that while he is at Ferrari Alonso will not go there, which is stupid beyond comprehension. Ross Brown and Schummy didn't like Kimi, so one took a sabbatical and the other retired. So, Ferrari fails miserable for a year or two, then Schummy and Brown return in force and hire the best pilot they can (right now either Alonso or Hamilton) and take Ferrari to its rightful place. One can only dream...

Alonso is starting to worry that McLaren may be favoring Hamilton. Yep, he got the idea from me! Hamilton also said after Monaco that he wouldn't stay long in a team that won't let him compete. One constant weakness in McLaren has been its inability to create a stable series of success. Every change affects them. Will this? I'd prefer to have Hamilton at Ferrari, but I'll take Alonso!

I am the first to criticized FIA when they screw up, and I have to be the first to say that the fact that Kubica came out of a horrible crash with minor injuries, perhaps without a broken leg, is a clear testimony of the incredible job FIA has done on safety. Less than ten years ago a much less serious crash caused injuries to Michael Schumacher. Kubica may be able to race next week! Amazing! Amazing also the race that Hamilton made. But... We need to separate Hamilton and Alonso, one of them has to race for Ferrari! As for Ferrari drivers, Massa is a normal driver that had bad luck today, but if he is going to challenge the McLaren drivers he needs a car at least half a second faster than McLaren's. As for Kimi, the only aspect in which he is superior to Schumacher is that he plays fair. That's the best I can say about him as a pilot.

With a frightening crash involving Kubica, the Canadian Grand Prix, transforms from an amazing effort by Hamilton, a lucky break for McLaren, even though Alonso either had a bad car or made a rare mistake, into a dark, horrible race I don't want to watch anymore...

After criticizing Ferrari for team orders, Ron Dennis admits publicly he cheats whenever he has to. This is what he said:

"We do not, and have not, manipulated Grands Prix unless there are some exceptional circumstances."

Translation: We cheat when we have to in order to win. What a hypocrite. The FIA is investigating him, but they probably will do nothing. Why? Because the team orders rule is ridiculous. Team orders are a reality, the rule just make them secret. It would be much better to have team orders be public so that everybody new that Alonso was not going to be challenged by Hamilton. The big question is, how did Ron Dennis decided to give Alonso th evictory over Hamilton? Because he got the pole? Because, obviously, he is the best pilot? At any rate, it seems the F1 circus started earlier than usual this year.

Monaco is a race for drivers and today proved that McLaren has both of them, with Alonso being an obvious top to a young, aspiring Hamilton, Kimi has bad luck and will never win a championship, he also seems too aggressive to really stand out any more than he already has. Massa is a good driver but not in the same league as Alonso and Hamilton. The car will likely not make a difference and the only hope of competition this year comes from the fact that Denis and co. are capable of screwing Alonso to get a Brit as a champion... At any rate, Monaco is still my favorite race.

After an error by Alonso, Massa wins in good form,  but Hamilton leads the championship and He's Alonso's biggest threat.  In a few races he may be declared McLaren's lead driver. will Alonso accept  playing second fiddle?  If you proposed that to Schumy he would've kill you with chopsticks!

Massa stole the pole from Alonso... in Spain!

Alonso wins sooner than we thought, I guess we are back to normal... He leads and is the favorite now. Great start, great race also for Hamilton. Is Massa a bluff? Raikkonen at least got third...