• Ferarri will win the Constructor’s championship.
• Jenson will get some points in early races but they’ll dry up as other teams get up to speed with the new regs.
• Max Mosely will continue to cling tenaciously to his position despite mounting opposition.
• Mark Webber will say bad words in at least 3 post-race interviews.
• Kimi and Felipe will tie for race wins, but Felipe will win on points.
• Kimi will say even less than last year.
• BMW will be the second best team.
• Lewis and Fernando will be battling each other for most of the season.
• The three Sebastiens will give the commentators headaches.
• Braun will sponsor Brawn (well they should!)

If a penalty is going to be handed out every time a driver makes a risky move, then drivers will stop making risky moves. Maybe that’s what the powers-that-be want, but it’s not what the fans want. No risk-taking means dull racing. At some point you have to look at a risky maneuver and say “OK, it was a bit dodgy, but it wasn’t deliberate and nobody was put in serious danger so let’s just call it a racing incident”.

I could well be wrong, but I don’t remember many penalties being handed out for first corner incidents before, and there has been first corner carnage far, far worse than the minor scuffle last weekend. The first corner is always the most chaotic part of the race, it’s almost a tradition.

I enjoyed the race. I loved seeing the two title contenders going at it so aggressively instead of taking the cautious, boring approach. It was incredibly sad to see that spoiled by bureaucratic nonsense.

I had to resort to “watching” the race via a live blog over at F1Fanatic. Not quite as enjoyable as seeing the racing with my own eyes but it was still exciting stuff; it’s surprising how easy it is to follow along just from a text feed.

It turned out to be an exciting race, but for all the wrong reasons. It sounds like it could quite easily have turned into another procession like we saw in Valencia but then Nelson Piquet drove his car into a wall and suddenly everything went crazy. It was just as most drivers were ready to make their first pit stop, and of course the safety car came out so the pit lane was closed. By a stroke of luck Alonso had pitted just before the crash, which meant he was in the perfect position, and went on to win the race.

Meanwhile Ferrari were having all sorts of dramas with Massa driving away with the fuel hose attached (not his fault) and Kimi hitting a wall leaving them with zero points. Hamilton drove an anonymous race to finish third and cement his championship lead.

It’s sad that a race only becomes exciting because of a rule that everyone thinks is stupid anyway. Commentors on the live blog were saying what a great race it was, but was it really? Yes it was exciting but was there actually any racing? There were maybe 3 or 4 decent overtaking moves but everything else revolved around what happened in the pits and with the safety car. F1 needs all the excitement it can get, but it needs to find a better way of generating it.

Now onto the race. I don’t remember ever feeling as badly for a driver as I did for Felipe Massa; what a devastating way to end what was a superb drive. When he overtook Lewis on lap one I figured he must have 4 or 5 laps less fuel on board to make such an audacious move, but no, he only came into the pits one lap before Hamilton. He kept Hamilton a few seconds behind him until Lewis suffered a puncture and slipped back. After that the race belonged to Felipe, until three laps from the end when his engine gave up. Cruel, cruel bad luck at the worst possible time. It was tragic to see him trudge disconsolately back to the pits.

Massa’s misfortune was Kovy’s fortune though, as he went on to win his first Grand Prix. It’s about time he had a win, but I don’t think he deserved this one. In fact the only person on the podium who truly deserved his position was Timo Glock, who claimed second place on pure merit, a stunning drive in a far from perfect car. Kimi in third place got lucky with Hamilton’s puncture and Massa’s retirement. He was incredibly fast for the last half of the race but appeared to be half asleep for the first half.

The excitement continues in this F1 season, with even Hungary, usually a processional circuit, giving us an enjoyable race. I’m really looking forward to the next race in Valencia on a brand new street circuit.

First though, a bit of history. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is strictly speaking a street circuit, although not many cars use that “street” during the rest of the year. It is built on a small island called Île Notre-Dame which is part of a small complex of islands just off the southern shore of the island of Montreal. The islands are man-made, built from the material taken out of the tunnels for the Montreal metro system, and used originally as the venue for the Montreal Expo of 1967. The Formula One Grand Prix has been held on the island since 1978, except for 1987 when it was cancelled over a sponsorship dispute. In 1993 the Montreal Casino was opened, sitting in the middle of the island surrounded by the race track.

What to take

Here are some things worth taking with you to the circuit:

• A paddock pass. OK, so it’s unlikely that you have one, but if you can get one, don’t hesitate. And if you can get one for me too, even better.
• Water – It’s supposed to feel like 40 degrees Celsius this weekend, which is hot, really really hot, so take water. Seriously. I’m not kidding.
• Ear defenders or ear plugs – Those cars are loud. Loud enough to damage your ears. If you plan on listening to the radio commentary, ear defenders are best, otherwise ear plugs will do. You can buy them at the circuit but they won’t be cheap.
• Poncho – You never know, it might rain, and a poncho is better than an umbrella as far as the people sitting behind you are concerned.
• Cushion – The seats in the grandstands are not comfortable, not even in the “Gold” stands, so take something for a bit of comfort.
• Sun-screen and a hat – Like I said, it’s gonna be hot.
• Beer – Strictly speaking I don’t think you’re supposed to bring your own beer, but I’ve never had any trouble. The beer you can get at the circuit is expensive and weak.
• Food – You can get expensive and crappy hot dogs and hamburgers at the circuit or you can pack a nice healthy picnic for the day. You probably won’t get away with setting up a bbq though.
• Cameras – Depending on where you’re sitting, you can get some really nice shots, especially if you have a decent zoom.

Getting onto the island

First of all, leave early to beat the crowds. There’s plenty of stuff happening during the morning to keep you occupied so just get up and go, take breakfast with you. There are various ways to get to the circuit. You can walk, but it’s a bit of a trek from downtown. You can drive, but you have to park in a lot on the main island and get a shuttle bus to the circuit. You can take the metro, but the line-ups can get nasty. Or you can use the secret way, which I’m about to reveal to you. Hail a cab, and tell the driver to take you to the casino. Cabs going to the casino are allowed through all the barricades straight to the centre of the island, so you’re right there with no hassle at all. It’ll cost you a bit more but it’s well worth it.

Getting off the island

Getting off the island after the race is even worse than getting onto the island. You will be stuck in crowds of people whichever way you to try to go, possibly for hours. So don’t bother. Stay on the island, go to the casino, play some slot machines, grab a meal at one of the restaurants. Three or four hours at the casino and all the crowds will be gone, leaving you to stroll to the metro station or grab a cab off the island.

Obviously the rain helped a lot to make the race interesting but there were other elements too. The tyre anf fuel choices teams made, and their strategies in general made the outcome difficult to predict, and having stars like Alonso in midfield and Kovy at the back meant there was good racing.

Frustrations were evident, especially with Alonso who was obviously quicker but ended up making a rash move at the Casino hairpin that was just never going to work. Raikkonen also had a bad day, culminating in taking Sutil out of the race after an impressive attempt at getting his car back under control. Sutil was obviously devastated, so it was good of him not to rip into Kimi after the race.

It was a great race for Lewis and a thoroughly deserved win. I expect that trophy will take pride of place in his trophy room.

As for Max Mosely, well he didn’t show his face much and didn’t talk to anybody. Since the weekend a letter has been sent to the FIA calling for his resignation which has been signed by representatives from:

America, Singapore, Germany, Finland, Canada , Brazil, Denmark, France, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary, Israel, Austria, Spain, Belgium and Switzerland.

Italy isn’t on the list, which doesn’t surprise me at all. I’m a little suprised that the UK is missing though.

Kovy’s crash looked really nasty, I was convinced he had at least one broken leg, especially seeing the gaping hole in the front of his pod. It’s a testament to the safety of those cars these days that he came away with just a concussion. He went almost head first into a tyre wall at 140mph, burying the car 3 tyres deep (luckily it was a 4 deep wall otherwise he probably would’ve hit something more solid), and came out with a headache.

In other news, the Max Mosley sex scandal has gone from bad to horrible for Max now that his bestest friend Bernie has joined the chorus calling for his resignation. Only three teams refused to sign Bernie’s letter: Ferrari, Torro Rosso (aka Ferrari Junior) and Williams (Super Aguri didn’t sign either but they’re busy with their own problems).

If Max has any love for motorsport left he needs to realise he’s damaging the sport and walk away. We can all wail and gnash our teeth about the horrible invasion of privacy the man has suffered, but the damage is done. We know what we know, it’s not possible to un-know it. Every time someone talks face to face with Max they will either be smirking at him or looking faintly disgusted. He claims he will attend the Monaco Grand Prix, so I’m looking forward to some of the banners the fans will have on display for him.

Kimi showed the kinks in his armour last weekend with two very silly errors. Has he become too reliant on the driver aids? Did he forget that he can’t come into corners that fast any more? Or was it just early season rustiness? Time will tell but I expect he’ll sort himself out in the next few races.

The safety car rules almost caught some drivers out this time. I think the rule about closing the pit lane needs to be changed somehow. Barrichello was basically forced to break a rule to get fuel in his car or risk being stranded out on track, all because of a situation that had nothing to do with him. This obviously flustered him and his team, causing a dangerous incident in the pit stop and the running of a red light resulting in Barrichello’s ultimate DQ.

Unlike many races over the past few years, this one actually became more exciting as it progressed. Even though Lewis was off on his own happily winning the race, everyone else was still busy trying to survive and gain a few points. The fight between Alonso and Heiki was great to watch in the final laps and it’s a real shame that Kovaleinan hit the speed limiter in his excitement after taking Fernando.

I’m looking forward to Malaysia, it’ll be another hot one, and there will be six cars running on old engines and gearboxes. It’s going to be a topsy-turvy weekend. Sadly I’ll be in Vermont all weekend but I’m hoping our hosts have a decent sports network…

And talking of TV coverage, I just heard that the BBC are getting F1 back next year, great news for British F1 fans, I’m very envious.

We’ve had Bernie being snarky all week, threatening to take F1 out of Australia if they don’t make it a night race. I expect he will get his way in the end, as they already capitulated a bit by moving the start time to three hours later. All he’s interested in is getting his races shown in Europe during prime time, he doesn’t seem to understand that it’s a World Championship and there are plenty of other fans beside the European ones.

The big news from Mclaren is that they sacked Mike Coughlan. Not exactly a shocker; what’s strange to me is why it took so long. The scandal has been raging for almost a year and they waited until the start of the new season to fire him. Supposedly this is due to “legal reasons” but I can’t imagine these teams having employment contracts without some kind of get-out clause.

Things are no less predictable on the track. Kimi took the first practice and Lewis took the second. I think we all know where the battle for the lead will be this year. The midfield fights are going to be where the excitement is though; I hope the TV directors realise that.