Brilliant Software to Give you the reader a better experience

I have just staretd to use a program called PDF Flip, this turns a PDF into a fancy flip style book so that when the first edition comes out you can read it like a proper magazine.

This company also has so many great pieces of software that I'll be using them again.

When it comes to PDF's, they are the kings.
I

Not only that you can add it to your smart phones and tablets and again read it like a book.

Superb software available, give it a try yourself at http://www.a-pdf.com/index.htm

Flip PDF means that the I have got a copy of the new magazine ( well a bit of it anyway.) on my Galaxy S 2 smart phone, I also have the necessary files to make an iPhone/iPad version. It is also on my Android tablet. The software did this all by importing the PDF. Amazing stuff, I am well impressed. Going to spread the word to my media colleagues at Silverstone this weekend.

Don't forget the first issue you available 15th July.

New Website and Potential Downtime

This weekend the hosting of www.myformulaone.com will trasfer to a different server. 

This means for a period of time when you type in www.myformulaone.com, nothing will happen as the new website is uploaded.

You will still be able to access this blog via the address http://f1newsandreview.blogspot.co.uk/ and the home page of the new website will have a link to it, as archive material.

I really hope you enjoy the new website and would also ask for your invaluable feedback in the first week or so as I am sure there are going to be some errors, as does happen.

It's been a busy week, and the fruits of my labour are about to happen. Excitement reigns as shares in the new company start to sell and the first edition of the e-magazine 'The Podium' hits the virtual shelves within weeks.

Thank you for all your support. I'd like to pay particluar thanks to Caterham and Tom Webb who have helped so much, and have given so much advice along the way.

Enjoy the new website, which should be live no later than Monday 21st May.

The New Magazine Website to be Launched this Week

During the coming week we will be launching our new website on a new server.

The new website will link to this site so you will still have access to the archive material.

The most important thing from your perspective is that the new website will stay on the address www.myformulaone.com it will focus on the brand new magazine, The Podium

The Podium, will contain exclusive interviews, opinions, reviews and previews. it will also contain news from other motor sports. In issue one we will look at karting and run a competition giving you the chance to win a karting session for yourself.

I'm not going to give anymore away as the new website will have all the information you need.

Finally, thank you for more than 35000 downloads of the 2012 season preview magazine, which has inspired the new monthly magazine. First edition coming soon.

Share Issue For My Formula One Limited has

Due to the huge success of the 2012 season preview e-magazine a limited company has been set up to raise a small amount of funding to employ the expertese needed to make 'The Podium` a leading motor sport magazine.

Just 3000 shares will be available with an initial value of £1 each. As there is potential multi million pound buyer already showing an interest in 11 months time, your £1 could be worth a lot more.

Delay today and you could regret it.

For a prospectus email info@myformulaone.com with your contact details. Please allow up to 72 hours for a reply.

BIG NEWS

Today we are pleased to announce a massive change on our magazine 'My Formula One'.

First of all the name is going to be dropped and the magazine will be known as 'The Podium'. The new magazine will cover all of motor sport not just F1. It will still be a magazine with around 60% content about F1.

We will be covering everything from karting, BTCC, WTCC, Rallying and so much more. It's going to be a magazine for every motor sport fan to read.

The first edition will have a feature and interview with F1 star Heikki Kovalainen, a look at KERS and a great feature on karting plus so much more.

Best of all it'll be FREE. More news to follow.

How Is My Formula One Changing?

Since it's inception in January 2012, My Formula One has been a news portal for everything to do with the sport. Then in February a decision was made to release a 2012 season Preview. The hope was that it may supplement the website and help to promote it. This is when everything changed.

It was perceived that 100 downloads would be a success, then when that number reached 1000, I thought my eyes were deceiving me. By the end of the seven days the numbers had risen to more than 13,000 downloads. To put that into context, the readership of AutoSport magazine is just a few hundred more.

So I am now faced with a decision, do I continue to use the website as a portal for news, or do I use it as a promotional tool for the new magazine 'My Formula One'?

The decision will not please some but will please others. I have decided to use the website as a portal to promote the magazine. There won't be any full articles, interviews and race reports on the website. Instead that will be reserved for the magazine.

The website will still have teasers and competitions. The Twitter feed @F1news2012 will still be active with pupdates and when and where you'll be able to get your copy.

THE BESY NEWS KEPT UNTIL THE END - IT'S FREE!!

The Face of My Formula One Is Changing

Later today, the My Formula One website will change. Keep and eye on our Twitter feed @F1News2012 or visit us here later for this BIG news.

We also have some exciting social media news for those into spending a long time on smart phones, laptops and PC's.

Keep visiting from 1pm (GMT) today and at some point this afternoon, all will be revealed.

A Taster Of An Exclusive Interview to Come - Can You Guess the Driver?

I recently interviewed one of the top drivers in Formula One. The full interview will be the cover story in the first edition of 'My Formula One' magazine, due out later this month. This is due to the success of the season preview magazine which to date has over 14,000 downloads. Thank you guys. Guess what the new magazine will be free too. Keep watching here for details.

We are a Formula One magazine, so let's move forward to your F1 career.
You joined Renault in 2004, then for 3 seasons you were one of their test drivers. Then in 2007, Fernando Alonso moved to McLaren (no one has forgotten that move). You were then promoted into a race seat. Your start at Renault seemed to be filled with bad luck. Did you ever feel, that despite your obvious talent, your Formula One career would be short lived?

Not at all. Luck comes and goes and in the long-term it's irrelevant. What makes the difference is hard work, dedication and taking your opportunities when they come. I'm a Grand Prix winner, and when you count up how many people have competed in F1 over the years, not that many drivers can say that, so it is working out pretty well.

More to come in the magazine...

Having Been A Bit Poorly For 7 Days....

....I will be back very soon with another exclusive interview. This time it's with one my own favourites on the grid. Who? Wait and see, I'll be uploading a sneak preview later and it will be the headline article in the Spring edition of the e-magazine 'My Formula One'.

Sorry to have been away for what seems like an age, unfortunately beyond my control. Back later today!

The Issue With Sky TV Coverage of F1

I have subscribed to the sky HD package to enable me to watch Formula One. So I pay an extra £10 a month or £120 per season so that I can see every race.

Sky promised us uninterrupted coverage of the races.

As everyone knows, I am a freelance journalist who covers F1, easy if I could get to go all over the world to watch the races but finances don't allow that, hence the reliance on Sky's new F1 channel. Last season was perfect from the BBC, great coverage and awards also.

Now, I understand that everything can't be perfect but let me tell you about my experiance of Sky F1 to date. I've recorded every practice session, watched qualifying and the races. Every practice session has recorded but has come up with the words 'part rec' which in Sky TV language means the program has not fully recorded. When I have watched these back there have been losses in the signal which have meant me missing parts. This hasn't been a one off either. We have had six practice sessions so far this season and all six have partially recorded with signal losses. Then there was today and the Malaysian Grand Prix, I'm sitting there with my laptop making notes on the race, early on Grosjean goes off and I wanted to make some extended notes as its a worthy part of my article in the end, so I pause my Sky using live pause, make my notes and pressed play to carry on and nothing, the box had crashed and had to be reset. Hence the gap in my Malaysian Grand Prix report.

This happened to me when the biggest event of the grand prix happened. When the box was reset Alonso was leading, Perez was 2nd and Button was heading for the pits after a crash. So I missed the best part of the grand prix because of a Sky issue.

Sky is a satellite service which means that sometimes there can be a loss of signal. This is a risk, especially if you are like me and report on Formula One. I'm not criticising the coverage, they have a good team and the coverage is good, perhaps not up to the standard we were used to with the BBC yet.

I called Sky today and spoke to a technician who said it was probably just a chance thing that it happened on the F1 channel. She said it may well have happened on any channel at that point in time. On the day I tested live pause on other channels and it was fine. So I have reset my box in a way described by the Sky technician and we tested live pause on F1 channel and it was fine.

So in conclusion, was it a box issue? Was it an issue with the Sky F1 channel itself? Was it just me? I'd love to know whether anyone else experienced similar problems.

To talk about this either use the comments box or follow me on Twitter @F1News2012

Malaysian Grand Prix Report and Final Standings

The 'My Formula One' Star Of Today's Show

It started to rain 15 minutes before the start of the race. The question was on everyone’s mind was, will there be rain for the start of the race and will there be a safety car start?

Charlie Whiting couldn't decide whether to have a safety car start, the teams couldn't decide on the tyre options. They thought the race could be delayed. It was a confusing lead up to the race for all the teams and race officials.

The cars started the formation lap on intermediate tyres. Both HRT's were on the full wets, however, the HRT of Pedro De La Rosa had to be wheeled into the pits as his HRT wouldn't start. The team managed to get started so he joined the race.

It stopped raining on the formation lap. All the teams started on intermediates.

There was a great start by Grosjean who made it up to 3^rd place but soon lost it and went down to 5^th. Then he went and hit Michael Schumacher and both cars spun, Schumacher ended up down in 12^th. It looked like it was Romain's fault from the replay, but that's not my decision.

By lap 3 it was Hamilton, Button, Webber running as the top 3.

Felipe Massa put on full wets on lap 4. All the teams watched his times and it became obvious that they were the tyres to be on. Grosjean race ended as he hit standing water at turn 6 and ended up in the gravel

On lap 5 Button and Alonso went in for full wets. Button started has started putting in fast lap times, so on lap 6 the other top drivers came in for full wets.

After all the pit stops the lead was kept by Hamilton. Button with warmer wet tyres tried to overtake but pulled out of it, probably because of the spray which was immense.

The safety car came out on lap 7 because the rain was so heavy and in the last sector it was like a lake.

The top 5 order under the safety car was Hamilton, Button, Perez, Webber and Alonso, all these drivers have made a pit stop. The only drivers in the top 10 who haven't stopped are Vergne who is still on intermediates and Karthikeyan in the HRT who had the foresight to start the race on wets, I never thought I'd be saying that a HRT was running in the top 10. Schumacher is down in 15^th under the safety car.

On lap 9 the race was red flagged. Most of the teams had special gazebo's over their cars on the grid, obviously they've learnt a lesson from Canada last year.

The race started again at 10:15 GMT under the safety car. During the red flag period we learned that Raikkonen had a problem with his KERS. When I say race, I mean the cars started to go round with the safety car, this meant that there can be no overtaking under the safety car. The big issue for everyone at this point is when to come in for the intermediates. Turn 15 had standing water so the safety car is obviously going to wait until there is a decent dry racing line.

On lap 14 the safety car went in and we got racing again. Pedro De La Rosa's day went from bad to worse as he got a drive through penalty because of a member of the team was still on the grid when he shouldn't have been.

I lost my satellite signal until lap 16, this is why I am not a fan of the Sky deal for this season. More on that in a report later.

As my signal came back Fernando Alonso is in the lead with Perez 2^nd and Hamilton has fallen to 3^rd. Jenson Button had crashed and had a puncture and a damaged front wing so had to go back in the pits.

Now, Button is in last position, the last time that happened he won, in Canada. On lap 18 Button did the fastest lap of the race and is now 20^th but more importantly he is over 40 seconds behind.

On lap 20 DRS has been enabled, that should help Button to get back up the field. You may have noticed that I am now writing this in the same style as the qualifying report. Live writing, more like a report.

I can't risk pausing the Sky coverage again.

Alonso still leads the race, with Perez 4 seconds behind. Vettel has just used his DRS to go into 4^th as he passes Rosberg in the Mercedes. I expected the Mercedes to be faster on the straight and be able to defend better. On lap 23 Rosberg got caught again in the same place, this time it was Raikkonen who took 5^th place.

On lap 25 Button pits again and puts a different set of intermediates on as he couldn't get heat into the tyres he had.

Rosberg must be having issues as he has now been passed by Webber. We are now on lap 26 and Perez makes a fastest lap. Massa has just been taken by Vergne who is up to 9^th. Senna is having a great run at the moment in the Williams, he's in 9^th now. Massa pits on lap 28, and comes out in 16^th.

Karthikeyan has now fallen down to 22^nd, a more familiar position than 10^th. Hamilton in 3^rd is closing in on Perez but he is around 7 seconds behind.

Alonso and Perez are having a great race, they keep putting in personal bests. They are driving the soul out of their cars. The other Sauber with Kobyashi has just overtaken the Mercedes of Schumacher.

The weather forecast says that there will be showers in a couple of minutes, we are now on lap 32. Button has got himself up to 17^th, next up for him is Massa. We are more than half way through the race, how far can Button go?

Perez has set another fastest lap of the race on lap 32. The problem is that the track is nearly dry enough for the slicks but the weather forecast says rain on the way. Button is struggling to get past Massa.

Button has just taken Massa in a brilliant overtaking move. Wheel to wheel with Ricciardo involved too.

At the front, Perez is catching the Ferrari of Alonso who is currently in 1^st place.

The Caterham of Petrov is in 15^th and having a great race, he's currently on lap 37 is Buttons next victim potentially, he kept him behind for a while but couldn't keep him behind for too long. We all know what Button is like in the rain..

Lap 38 and Ricciardo pits for slicks. Lets see what happens now. All the teams are watching his times and and the weather forecast.

Perez is now close to Alonso now, can he get close enough.

The teams are starting to gamble by putting on slicks. Webber, Hamilton, Senna and more have gone onto slicks. Alonso goes into the pits but Perez doesn't, he stays on intermediates. If it does rain, Perez will be on for a win, if it doesn't he will fall down. On lap 42 Perez does pit for slicks.

Maldonado has just set a fastest lap. By staying out for an extra lap, instead of being in the mirrors of Alonso he is about 4 seconds behind.

I've just said that about Perez, but he is catching Alonso now, and catching him fast.

Bruno Senna, has just used his DRS and overtaken Paul Di Resta to move into 7^th in his Williams. Senna is having a great race.

Perez has just been held up by a HRT who wouldn't move off the racing line. He is now just 2.7 seconds behind. It's crazy, especially for me, I've criticised the Ferrari and it's winning, I said that Sauber would be the victim of Caterham moving up the world championship, looks like someone else will be the victim.

Lap 48 Vettel gets a left rear puncture and had to pit, caused yet again by a HRT.

Perez is now in the DRS zone of Alonso, can Perez do it. He didn't manage it on lap 50. I hear Kobayashi has now retired. Perez has went wide but has lost so much time, he is now 5 seconds behind, what a shame for the lad.

Senna is now 6^th and Maldonado is 10^th, how's that for Williams, following last season. Let's see where they finish. Vettel and Button are not making up time, so they are not likely to get any points today. No repeat of Canada from Button who is currently 4^th.

There are 4 laps left, it's not likely that Perez will catch Alonso now.

Maldonado is trying to catch Hulkenberg in the Force India, but in the DRS zone, the Force India seemed to have more straight line speed.

Raikkonen in his Lotus has just set the fastest lap. He is in 5^th at the moment.,

I really can't believe Mercedes in this race, they are so fast, I suppose it's the rain.

Final lap has just started and Alonso has a 2 second gap so should win it.

Over the finish line Fernando Alonso wins, a great 2^nd place for Sergio Perez and Hamilton finished in 3^rd place for the second week in a succession.

This has been an exciting race, totally unpredictable. Fantastic to see a Sauber driver on the podium. There were some good overtaking moves, and in all honesty Perez could have won the race if he hadn't made that mistake. I was disappointed with Mercedes, as I thought they would have done so much better. The Lotus of Raikkonen looked strong and so did Grosjean's for the short time he was on track. I have to be honest and say I am disappointed with HRT, nothing to do with positions etc, the problem is that they caused two major issues in my opinion. They caused Button to have to pit with a puncture and a new nose, they also did the same to Vettel who had a rear puncture. Sorry to criticise but this is a website written by a fan, for fans. The race though was outstanding. Well done Sauber, My Formula One are proud of you. Sorry for doubting you in my season preview. I officially change my mind and say that someone else will fall down a place in the championship for Caterham to move up. Both Caterham cars finished the race today, and in decent positions. Not quite in the points yet, but as the season progresses they will get there. Here are the final standings;

Malaysian Grand Prix Final Result

Pos.	Driver	Team
1	Alonso	Ferrari
2	Perez	Sauber
3	Hamilton	McLaren
4	Webber	Red Bull
5	Raikkonen	Lotus
6	Senna	Williams
7	Di Resta	Force India
8	Vergne	Toro Rosso
9	Hulkenberg	Force India
10	Schumacher	Mercedes
11	Vettel	Red Bull
12	Ricciardo	Toro Rosso
13	Rosberg	Mercedes
14	Button	McLaren
15	Massa	Ferrari
16	Petrov	Caterham
17	Glock	Marussia
18	Kovalainen	Caterham
19	Maldonado	Williams
20	Pic	Marussia
21	Karthikeyan	HRT
22	De La Rosa	HRT
23	Kobayashi	Sauber (Retired)
24	Grosjean	Lotus (Retired)

Formula One Qualyfying Report - Malaysia 2012

Lewis Hamilton Gets Pole For a 2nd Race in a Row. Joined here by team mate Button who will start 2nd and Schumacher 3rd

 As an experiment I am writing this as Qualifying takes place. I am hoping that it is a different style of writing, and a good read for you.

We are looking at McLaren and Mercedes following the practice sessions. They don't always give us the answers, but they look the best bet for pole. Lewis Hamilton looked fantastic on Friday, Michael Schumacher was also looking good. It wouldn't surprise me to find a silver front two rows. We will see as Qualifying starts in a few minutes. As we know anything can happen in qualifying. Caterham will be looking to battle with the midfield today, can Vitaly and Heikki get one of the cars into qualifying two?

Qualifying 1

We find out from the Pit Wall that there is a large rain cell located to the west of the track. They are not expecting rain in this session but we may well have rain at some point during proceedings today.

We are go for qualifying, however unusually no one is waiting at the lights to go straight out. Caterham have said that they are happy with race pace, but are trying to understand why their qualifying pace isn't quiet right.

The first car out is Paul Di Resta followed by Nico Hulkenberg. They are the only ones on track as we are two minutes into the session.

Lots more cars have joined the Force India's on the track. Paul Di Resta is the first to set a time and that is 1:38.927. Everyone is now on track apart from the HRT's and Vettel, talking about them will they get in the 107% rule. Raikkonen has gone top with a 1:37.961. Hamilton's just topped that with his first lap and put down a benchmark of 1:37.904. At the moment only 12 drivers have put in a time. Button beats Hamilton then Rosberg goes fastest in his Mercedes. The bottom 7 who go out in this round are so far in that seven are Massa, Petrov, Kovalainen, Glock, Pic, Karthikeyen and De La Rosa. Schumacher is currently fastest with a 1:37.517. Both Red Bull's are pretty much safe but Vettel is 7th and Webber 12th. There are two compounds of tyres for this race and each tean has just three sets of them. For this race its the hard and the medium that Pirelli have chosen. It's a surprise to see both Ferrari's going out on the medium compound at this stage. Massa will be the first to cross the finish line and moves himself 11th, he can't relax on the time though. Already Massa has gone down to 13th.

Webber has just put himself on top with a good lap. The session finishes and the grid from 17th to 22nd are as follows;

18th Vergne -  Toro Rosso
19th Kovalainen - Caterham
20th Petrov - Caterham
21st Glock- Marussia
22nd Pic - Marussia
23rd De La Rosa - HRT
24th Karthikyan - HRT

Karthikeyan is over five seconds off the pace but is just is inside the 107% by a tenth of a second. Kovakaiinen takes a five plactie grid penalty so will start at the back with the HRT's. Webber's time stayed as the fastest for this session.

Qualifying 2

With Webber setting the fastest lap late on in the last session, I think that shows that the track has now bedded in and there is a decent amount of rubber laid down. I think that this session is going to be exciting.

Light is green, 15 minutes of fast action is on it's way.

Perez is first on track in his Sauber.We have just seen that the rain is not expected in this session. The first time set is a 1:39.043, that certainly won't be the top time for very long. Kobayashi knocks his team mate off top spot beating him by around a second. That was literally quickly followed by Kimi Raikkonen as he puts his Lotus top 1.443 seconds faster than the Saubers. A good time by Raikkonen, that will be difficult to beat in his session. With 8 minutes remaining 13 teams have set a time. Button and Hamilton are 2nd and 3rd in the standings. We are half way through the session and the drop zone looks like this Massa, Perez, Di Resta, Hulkenberg, Maldonado, Senna and Grosjean. Kimi certainly hasn't lost any of his talent, you can see that by the comparison to his team mate, it's just a shame that Kimi has a five place grid penalty because of a gearbox change. I'm now watching Felipe Massa in the worryingly poor Ferrari, he is 11th fastest at the moment and in the drop zine, lets see if he can drag his way out of danger and get a good lap in. Whilst we were watching Massa, we have flipped to Grosjean in the Lotus, to see if he can get up there with Kimi, don't forget he is only a sort of half rookie, as he's raced in F1 before. He should be able to get the Lotus in the top 10, Romain doesn't disappoint and goes into 4th place. The Lotus is looking good on low fuel, what will it be like on full load tomorrow? We will have to wait and see. Back to MassaMassa is just going round the last corner and goes into 9th, that won't be safe, I'm sure of that. He will need another go. Alonso is just about to cross the line, will he get back into the top 10 and beat his team mate, he does and goes 6th (not 5th, maybe that's to come in the pole position shoot out). With just over a minute to go Senna crosses the line in his Williams and sits 12th, he can still get another lap in. Maldonado has ust put his Williams into 9th position which has put Massa's Ferrari and both Mercedes in deep trouble. They all need to pull something special out of the bag right now. Hulkenberg goes 15th. The chequered flag has now just fallen, both Mercedes are on hot laps. They cannot make a mistake, and they need to be the best laps they can do. We've seen them in practice and I personally expected them to be fighting for pole position. Let's see what happens, we are watching Schumacher, he has traffic in frint of him, he passes them with ease, at the end of the second sector he is half a second up on 10th place, so barring any mistakes he should be ok, let's see his final sector. For a moment we switch to Rosberg in the other Mercedes and goes into 3rd position so is safe and will be in the pole position shoot out, Schumacher gets himself into 4th just behind his team mate. We loose a Ferrari, Felipe Massa couldn't make it through.

So the session is over so the grid from 11th to 17th looks like this;

11th Maldonado - Williams
12th Massa - Ferrari
13th Senna - Williams
14th Di Resta - Force India
15th Ricciardo - Toro Rosso
16th Hulkenberg - Force India
17th Kobayashi - Sauber

Now it's time for the pole position shoot out.

Pole Position Shoot out - Qualifying Session 3

The ten minute session has started. The first man out is Raikkonen We now have the current world champion out n track. Will the Red Bull's get to the front, have they been sandbagging? We are about to find out. The McLarens are both out on track. The Mercedes are both waiting, perhaps to do only one run. I have just learnt that Sergio Perez will only do one run. Raikkonen is rhe first man to lay down a time for everyone to chase, he sets a time of 1:36.837 for everyone to try and  beat. Button comes round the final bend in the McLaren and goes faster straight away with a 1:36.627. Hamilton is coming round the final corner as Button crossed the line, what can he do? Hamilton now goes 1st with a 1:36.219 nearly half a second quicker. Next up it's time to see if Red Bull have been sandbagging or whether some work needs to be done on the car to bring it up to speed, as Mark Webber crosses the line with a 1:37.011 putting him 4th at the moment. Grosjean is next across the line and he goes 5th. Now its the double world champion, Vettel to cross the line, and there seems to be no sand bags in the Red Bull garage as he can only manage 6th, over a second off the pace.We are half way through the session. Both Mercedes are out on a clear track, lets see what Rosberg and Schimacher, Rosberg is having a poor lap, he's locked up under braking and gone wide on a couple of occasions. He is in a car that is capable of pole, perhaps it's the pressure. Perez in the Sauber has just gone out for his only lap (apparently). Rosberg is about half a second down in the 2nd sector. He has pulled something out the bag in the final sector to put him 3rd for the moment. At the end of the 2nd sector Schiumacher was down on pole by 0.232 seconds. All the cars are now on track and Raikkonen has gone out on a brand new set of tyres. Schumacher will be next over the line as we have just over 2 minutes left of the session. Schumacher goes 2nd by a small margin. Now it's all about these final laps, it could all change now. At the moment we have a all silver front two rows as I predicted earlier. Perez puts his Sauber on 9th. Rosberg is happy with his time as he has gone into the pits along with Schumacher, they obviously believe they've done enough or their cars were only fuelled for the one flying lap. Hamilton is out on track and going faster than his original time. Webber is coming to line now and he goes 3rd fastest, a great lap by webber. Raikkonen crosses the line and goes 4th (putting him 9th due to a five place grid penalty). Vettel is now coming down the long straight towards the last corner, what can he do? He can only manage 6th, out qualified by Mark Webber. Jenson Button is right behind him and crosses the line in 2nd to give a 2nd front row lock out for McLaren in a row. Grosjean is the last man to cross the line and puts his Lotus 7th.

So here is the grid order for the top 10 (prior to penalties)

1st Hamilton - McLaren
2nd Button - McLaren
3rd Schumacher - Mercedes
4th Webber - Red Bull
5th Raikkonen - Lotus
6th Vettel - Red Bull
7th Grosjean - Lotus
8th Rosberg - Mercedes
9th Alonso - Ferrari
10th Perez - Sauber

Yet another great Saturday for McLaren. I'm looking forward to what should be a great race tomorrow. We'll be covering it with a report on the race tomorrow.

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Scandal Over Ugly Nose Regulations - They May Not Have Been Necessary

The Ugly Noses Could Have Been Avoided

 It's been revealed that in a Technical Working Group in January, warnings were made about how the cars would look.

Apparently, Lotus mentioned to the group that the new regulations could lead to some odd looking cars. They then proposed that the height change down from a distance of 400mm behind the front bulkhead. It has been said that some drawings were distributed and ten of the teams agreed that the regulations should be changed.

When the teams voted for this change, only Red Bull and Toro Rosso voted against the changes for some unknown reason. Despite there being a majority vote, the regulation never got changed. No one knows the reason why? Well no one has said they know. Somebody actually does!

I think that as fans we should be told why the majority vote was ignored. I don't know what you guys think, but I am calling for the truth and for an answer. So can someone tell us why this was vote ignored?

Ferrari - A Look At The Current Situation

Ferrari seem to have built a very poor car this year. It's such a shame that they are not able to battle at the front. They've got the history, they've got a decent team of engineers and drivers. They still can't build a decent car.

If it wasn't for Fernando Alonso, they would be running in the midfield sY best. Alonso drove that car beyond its capabilities in Australia. His fifth place finish has nothing to do with the cat, for once in Formula One, it was all about the driver.

So what can they do about it? They have given Massa a new chassis, however in practice 1 & 2 it didn't seem to make a difference. They need to completely re-think their car and they need to do it fast. If they don't, they could end up loosing Alonso, never mind, this thing about giving Massa a year to prove himself.

Ferrari have such a history in the sport that it is so sad to see, just like Williams in 2011. I tell you now, without Alonso, Ferrari would be in the midfield without a doubt.

You may agree or think I'm totally off the boil here. But I want Ferrari back at the front fighting with McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull. Who knows they may resolve whatever the issues are. We will just have to wait and see.

Free Practice 1 & 2 News

Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets in his McLaren in FP1. Followed by Vettel, Rosberg and Schumacher in 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. The Ferrari's struggled, with Massa using his new chassis, in only 13th place. That however was faster than his team mate Alonso who was a couple of places further down.

Further down the order, the HRT's got some running in at last but were 7 seconds off the pace. Caterham will be happy with being in the thick of the midfield, only two seconds off Hamilton's time.

In second practice Hamilton again topped the timing charts, making him the fastest driver of the day. He was again followed closely by Schumacher in the fast looking Mercedes. Button in the other McLaren followed close behind. Rosberg completed the top four. Both these teams look good at Sepang.

After a good start in Melbourne, Sauber look to be struggling on a few points, one of which is tyre degradation, normally one of the things they're good at.

Lotus had an issue with KERS on Kimi Raikkonen's car which left him further down the order than he should be. Meanwhile his team mate Romain Grosjean ended up a respectable ninth position.

The HRT's closed the gap to 5 seconds in practice 2, compared to 7 seconds in the first session.

Now it's a wait until tomorrow for third practice and qualifying. We will have a report on qualifying soon after it finishes tomorrow. From today's showing, expect to see McLaren and Mercedes right up there at the front.

Malaysian Grand Prix Preview

This weekend sees the teams at battle once again, just days after Jenson Button kicked off the season on style. McLaren seem to have the best car and with Marussia having a two car finish, may well mean the nose step was the wrong decision.

I am going to run through the latest news ahead of this weekends grand prix.


The Felipe Massa Saga Continues at Ferrari

We will start with Felipe Massa, who had a poor race in Melbourne. 2012 was supposed to be the season he proved himself. Some of the Italian press have been calling for a replacement already. I don't agree, I believe he is a decent driver. Don't forget he was seconds from being world champion in 200&. Italian slots paper 'Autosprint' had this to say about Massa, which is a bit off hand being we've only has one race. Here's a segment of what they said; "The Brazilian is already a case: disastrous and embarrassing in the race. Last year, he had the excuse of not being able to get heat into the tyres, this year the opposite happens, [and] he destroys them in a few laps. Felipe is useless to the team and does not carry championship points. Massa is now the shadow of the beautiful pale rider of the past, [when he was] aggressive and [capable of a] quick lap."

We will see what happens with Massa, but I fully expect him to see out the year, especially following the replacements Ferrari used when he was out injured in 2009.

The Bookies Rate Lewis Hamilton for Malaysia

Lewis Hamilton is the early favorite for Sepang. After his outstanding pole position in Melbourne, the bookies are looking at his race there as unlucky. They believe with a bit of luck he would have won. However you can't take anything away from Jensons great drive.

Sebastian Vettel Talks About the Future of the RB8

Reigning World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, believes the RB8 needs more track time to become a force on 2012. He had said that the car has no fundamental issues, it just needs fine tuning in order to become a race winning car like its predecessor. Red Bull were unable to compete with McLaren in qualifying in Melbourne Nd during the race. It has been said in the media that without the safety car, We would have had a McLaren 1-2. Vettel is confident for Sepang this weekend as he puts a poor qualifying performance down to his final race position in Melbourne. So I guess it's watch out everyone, Vettel believes he'll be back to his very best this weekend.

Schumacher Set For Pole in Sepang?

Michael Schumacher has played down talk that Mercedes are set for pole in Sepang. Many pundits believe the use of their innovative rear wing device will give them a chance to lead from the front. Pundits have been putting Schumacher's qualifying pace, which got him on the second row in Melbourne, down to the unusual duct on the Mercedes, that seems to work when the DRS system is activated and is used to channel air onto the wing, which will inevitably give him an extra boost, when the DRS is activated. In qualifying you can use DRS for the full lap. This will give him and Rosberg the chance to get among the front runners.

Williams New Found Pace Needs to Turn to Points

Following a 13th place for Maldonado and a 16th for Senna in Australia, you may be forgiven for thinking that there had been no real impovement over the winter for the British team, however, you'd be wrong. Until the last lap in Australia, Williams looked on course to score more points than they did in the entire season during 2011. Pastor unfortunately retired on the final lap. Bruno Senna showed some good pace during the race but seemed hampered by bad luck, his race finally coming to an end when he collided with fellow Brazilian Felipe Massa (maybe Massa has found a new play mate for 2012, especially now he cant't catch Lewis' McLaren. Williams are set to use pretty much the same car,with no updates, for Malaysia. The only difference maybe an opening up of cooling level due to the higher temperature in Sepang. It does look like Williams are set to have a much better season, I wouldn't bet against them being among the points scorers in this weekends race.


The Season Has Just Started and We Are Already Hearing Transfer Rumours

Rumours have been flying around faster than a Formula One car this week about Sergio Perez being linked with a move to Ferrari, to take ovet Feipe Massa's seat. Both drivers have denied these reports as just speculation. Perez has said that he is fully focused on his drive with Sauber, however Sergio is part of the Ferrari young driver programme. Whilst I believe Massa will probably keep his seat, until the end of the season, Perez has driven a Ferrari Formula One car before. Sergio has made it quite clear that he is concentrating on the Malaysian Grand Prix only and would like a second points finish to follow up his 8th place in Melbourne. Perez had an excellent race last weekend, following a gearbox issue he started at the back of the grid. Felipe has also distanced himelf from these reports as he commented to ESPN "I never drove depending on what others think or say about me. I do my job thinking about trying to the best I can the car." How much truth there is in this rumour, I don't know. But it does seem a logical next step for the Mexican if Felipe doesn't improve fast.

And Finally My Thoughts on Malaysia

I'm predicting another win for McLaren. It was obvious that thier car was the best in Australia and that they have, arguably, the best driver line up. The circuit should suit Jenson Button more than Lewis Hamilton, due to the need for a smooth style of driving. However, I do have one surprise up my sleeve and it's been mentioned on here already. There are a couple of long straights at Sepang, and this could give Mercedes a real chance this weekend. Don't be surprised to see at least one Mercedes driver on the podium. I just hope that if it is Schumacher, he keeps his current chilled out peronality and doesn't go back to his old ways. I don't mind admitting, I am beginning to like the new Michael.

Expect to see the Caterham cars further up the field this weekend, mixing it with the midfield. I am thinking Sauber probably won't do as well, as it is more difficult to look after tyres in Sepang.

On Saturday I will be writing my report on Qualifying and then on Sunday will tell you all my opinions and run through all the talking points of the race.

Post Melbourne News and Comments

We start with the biggest surprise, as Marussia defied their sceptics by having a two car finish. Something they deserve to celebrate following a lack of winter testing. Well done to them.

Kimi Raikkonen rues a missed opportunity, as he watched Romain Grosjean pick up a podium. Problems with the Lotus of Raikkonen meant that he had limited running in practice and had to start way down the grid. He still managed to get amongst the points, showing that the Lotus has pace, and most importantly for Kimi. He still has the ability.

Lewis Hamilton was disappointed with his race. Lewis dropped from pole at the start of the race, when overtaken by team mate Jenson Button. He then lost out during a safety car period to rival Sebastian Vertel in the Red Bull.

Fernando Alonso drove his Ferrari car to the absolute maximum. Finishing 5th was the best he could archive. I believe that had anyone else been in the car it wouldn't have finished at the back.

Heikki Kovalainen has been handed a 5 place grid penalty for Malaysia. The reason for the penalty is overtaking before the line. Heikki is not too concerned as he believes he can make those places up easy. There's confidence for you. Well done Heikki, that confidence is nice to hear.

Felipe Massa has been given a new chassis for Malaysia due to the poor performance of his car at Australia. It'll be interesting to see if this makes any difference to his performance.

Pirelli have offered a chance for all F1 teams to send an observer to the first test in Jerez of its new 2010 Renault. They believe this move will both help the teams and stop any advantage to one team. The first test is due in May.

What Do YOU Think?

As part of a commitment to bring you the news and views from within Formula One, we want to hear from fans of all the teams, following the first grand prix of the year in Melbourne.

We will be running an article (hopefully) later this week, featuring the views of fans from each of the teams, that's where I need your help.

I want a small (perhaps 2 or 3) write up from a supporter of each team. All you have to do is email me at info@myformulaone.com with your name, age, team supported and short viewpoint of your teams weekend. The first people who reply get theirs included.

The article will be on website and in the first issue of My Formula One magazine due out in April.

Simple as that. I look forward to your views.

Thank you for your support.

Jenson Button Talks About Winning the First GP of the Season

Jenson starts as he means to go on - and he could have been so much faster

Following his dominant win in Melbourne, Jenson Button talks about the importance of winning the first race of the season.

He commented "Every victory means a lot but today shows just how important it was to have a strong winter, he confirmed. The starts of the past two seasons have both been tricky for us, so today is really encouraging. The guys at the circuit and all the men and women back in Woking have done an amazing job to get us here"

Button believes there is now a realistic chance to fight with this car for the championship. His only concern was the restart following the safety car. He said "At the start, I really wanted to get away fast in the first two laps to avoid the threat of DRS it wasn't easy because I had Lewis right on my tail. But the race went smoothly after that. My biggest worry was the late-race Safety Car: I had a 10-second advantage, which was pretty healthy, but the Safety Car cut that to nothing."

Not only that, he had to spend the early part of the race in fuel saving mode unnecessarily. McLaren thought he was using too much fuel and asked him to just manage the gap at the front. He later revealed that he could have raced full on and still have enough fuel for both cars.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile finished 3rd, although this has been attributed to the safety car incident in which he lost out to raining champion Vettel. I have no personal doubt that we'd have had a McLaren one-two if fortunes had gone their way, but that's racing.

The good testing period for McLaren has shown how important it is for a good start to the season. Without doubt, the two best cars on the grid were the McLarens.

What did you all think of the race, to start a conversation just go to Twitter and use the hash tag #F1News2012aussie

So How Did it go for Pirelli?

Pirelli 2012 Tyres - Much Clearer Markings

 We asked Paul Hembery, Motorsport Director of Pirelli for a follow up to the Australian GP. Did the tyre degradation go as planned? And did the predictions they made come to fruition?

Here were his post Melbourne comments for My Formula One;

"The Australian Grand Prix certainly lived up to expectations, and we fulfilled our objective of providing scope for more strategies by reducing the performance gaps between the compounds and extending the window of peak performance. An interesting element was that there were many pit stops that were not for wear level but instead for degradation, confirming what we wanted to achieve strategy-wise. We also saw more use of the medium tyre than the soft tyre, contrary to last year. Despite this range of strategies there were some very tight battles all the way down the field right up to a dramatic final lap, with one driver crashing out and eighth, ninth and 10th places crossing the finish line practically together! The wear and degradation of the tyres was around 0.1 seconds per lap on the soft tyre – with the frontrunners choosing to pit twice, despite the rapid pace at the front of the field. Many congratulations to Jenson Button and McLaren for a stylish victory and also to Mark Webber, who scores his best-ever finish on home territory."

Finally, the markings on this years tyres are so much better, as you can see in the picture above.

Thank you once again Paul for taking time out to speak to My Formula One.

Reaction from Caterham F1 on their first Race Back

Vitaly Petrov in action at Melbourne

It may not have seemed like an ideal way to start the season with two non finishes but one again we must look at the wider picture.

I spoke to Tom Webb just minutes before he got on board to his flight to Malaysia for next weeks grand prix. In the short but significant chat about the weekend just past.

First of all I asked about the reasons for both cars stopping before the end of the race, I am assured they are. Both minor issues that will be resolved by Malaysia.

I then asked about how he felt the team performed overall. Firstly he pointed to the fact that Heikki had no DRS until lap 6, and on a track with two zones this has to be a factor. He also has an issue with his KERS system over the start finish line. He pointed out that the timings showed Caterham matching, if not bettering the establishes midfield pack. There was a point at which we were battling with the Ferrari of Massa.

Overall, had things not gone against them, their own timing sheets showed that they were in a good position to score their first ever points.

If lady luck falls on them well in Malaysia, you wouldn't bet against some points for Caterham.

Thank you for spending the time to speak to us Tom. Good luck in Malaysia.

Autralian Grand Prix Race Report

Jenson Collects the 1st Trophy of 2012

We start off this morning with a look at the grid for todays race:

Grid Number	Driver	Team	(Any other info)
1	Hamilton	McLaren	1:24.922
2	Button	McLaren
3	Grosjean	Lotus
4	Schumacher	Mercedes
5	Webber	Red Bull
6	Vettel	Red Bull
7	Rosberg	Mercedes
8	Maldonado	Williams
9	Hulkenberg	Force India
10	Ricciardo	Toro Rosso
11	Vergne	Toro Rosso
12	Alonso	Ferrari
13	Koyayashi	Sauber
14	Senna	Williams
15	Di Resta	Force India
16	Massa	Ferrari
17	Raikkonen	Lotus
18	Kovalainen	Caterham
19	Petrov	Caterham
20	Glock	Marussia
21	Pic	Marussia
22	Perez	Sauber	5 Place Grid penalty
23	De La Rosa	HRT	Didn't Qualify
24	Karthikeyan	HRT	Didn't Qualify

So only a few moments to go until the lights go out. Sit back and enjoy this report,written in real time. For race reports we will write it as the action unfolds and then upload it to the website. So apologies for any early errors. We will proof reading during the day. F1 is all about speed, so let's see how soon you can red our coverage. Live, but only just.

The track temperature is just 29, and there are drivers out of position. Not only that, we have six champions on the track and many drivers out of position. With a double DRS we are likely to see a lot of overtaking today.

The lights go out and we are off and racing for 2012.

At the start Lewis got some wheel spin, letting Jenson through into first corner. The Ferrari's seem to be making progress through the field. Then after a great qualifying session, Grosjean comes off the track with what seems like front right wheel issues.

Within 4 laps Button had already built up a 2.6 second gap, on his team mate. Vettel showed that he can race after all, with a great early move on Rosberg. On lap 7 the top 10 are split by around 20 seconds already.

Red Bull are confident they can catch Schumacher. At the moment the top 5 are 1. Button 2. Hamilton 3. Schumacher 4. Vettel 5. Rosberg. Immediately after this run down we have the Mercedes of Schumacher pulling over will a faulty car. Now there will be only one Mercedes racing.

Massa pulled into the its for a new set of tyres on lap 12, the first of the unscheduled stops. Rosberg pits second, this time on lap13. Raikkonen has already up 11 places so far by lap 14.

On lap 17 the leaders started to pit. Button was the first with Vettel following. As Hamilton left the pits he found his a Sauber in his way, which won't help. Rakkionen went in for his first lap during the 20^th. This is where we and out the true gains of Kimi. He started in 17^th and comes out 11^th with others yet to pit in front of him.

What an exciting race as there is action up and down the track. On lap 21 Alonso and Rosberg took places from perez. It looks like Sauber may try a one stop race.

Halfway through the race, all the top 10 have now pitted.

Jenson is still running away with the race at half distance, however Hamilton is putting him under pressure. Vettel is a steady distance behind the two McLarens. As for Ferrari, they are relying on Alonso (who you could put in a Fiat Panda in this race and he'd still do well).

Massa is the first of the drivers to make a second stop, let's see who follows.

Mercedes are showing great straight line speed during the middle part of this race. They are making it difficult for anyone to overtake, despite DRS. This could prove more significant as the race and season goes on.

On lap 37 Vitaly Perov parked his car on the start\finish straight causing an issue for McLaren. The safety car was deployed and this meant Jenson kept his first place, but the big winner and big looser from this was Vettel, who jumped Hamilton into 3^rd. Now this will be an interesting restart.

During this safety car period caused by the Caterham of Petrov, we also lost Kovalainen. Not a great day for the lads from Hingham. Maybe next week things will be better.

Following the safety car period, we can run down the latest top five – Button, Vettel, Hamilton, Webber and Alonso (5^th? Really? Surely not).

With just 10 laps to go, Massa was in the garage with front wing issues, they will try to fix it but it looks to be the end of Massa's race.

Jenson Button seems to be managing the gap nicely between himlelf and 2^nd place Vettel. Hamilton can't seem to make any inroads on Vettel, likewise Webber on Hamilton.

The final laps seemed like a precession but Button would have relieved to finish on the top step of the podium. I have to be honest in saying that I got a fair few of my predictions wrong for this race. I'll start with the ones I got right; a win for a McLaren, a podium for one of the Red Bull drivers, A nice run through the field for Raikkonen. Then there are the ones I got wrong; a stinker for both Ferrari's (5^th again for Alonso – he'd even make 5^th in a HRT, I bet), Caterham to beat a few midfield teams and be closer, if not in the points and finally the big one, I predicted a tough start for Williams, but they must be so pleased with the race weekend as a whole.

So there you have it, we're off and running, next stop Malaysia in a few days time. I will be running some comments later today from the guys on the front line. Watch out for that article, with more analysis and stats for you to sift through. Other articles to look forward to this week; an interview with Formula One fan and runner-up in last seasons World Touring Chamoionships. We'll have the views from a supporter from each team on how the first weekend felt for them, a huge announcement about Issue One of a new magazine entitled 'My Formula One' plus so much more.

Final Race Standings and Points

Position	Driver - Team	Points
1	Button – Vodafone McLaren	22
2	Vettel – Red Bull Racing	18
3	Hamilton – Vodafone McLaren	15
4	Webber – Red Bull Racing	12
5	Alonso – Ferrari	10
6	Kobayashi - Sauber	8
7	Raikkonen - Lotus	6
8	Perez - Sauber	4
9	Ricciardo – Toro Rosso	2
10	Di Resta – Sahara Force India	1
11	Vergne – Toro Rosso	0
12	Rosberg – AMG Mercedes	0
13	Maldonado - Williams	0
14	Glock - Marussia	0
15	Pic - Marussia	0
16	Senna – Lotus	0
17	Massa – Ferrari	DNF
18	Kovalainen – Caterham F1	DNF
19	Petrov – Caterham F1	DNF
20	Schumacher – AMG Mercedes	DNF
21	Hulkenberg – Sahara Force India	DNF
22	Grosjean – Lotus	DNF
23	De La Rosa - HRT	DNS (107%)
24	Karthikeyan – HRT	DNS (107%)

FOR JUST A MOMENT - To Think About Someone

As sports fans we would like to send our thoughts to the family, colleagues and friends of Fabrice Muamba, Boton player who remains critically iLL in hospital after collapsing during the FA Cup Quarter Final with Tottenham.

The match was abandoned by the referee, without any complaints from players or fans.

As sporting fans we have to send our wishes out and hope that he makes a recovery.

F1 Race Report coming soon.....

The Headlines Follwowing the Headline Times

With the line up organised via qualifying, that is not the end of the stories.

As we look forward to the race in a few hours, here are some whispers coming from the paddock. Or for some should I rephrase that excuses.

First look at the top. A lock out for McLaren, so they're confident oblong fuel runs and now show us the car has one lap pace too. Although confident in the car, both Hamilton and Button were surprised at the gap between them and last years champions Red Bull.

At the other end of the grid it has been confirmed that both HRT's are not going to be on the grid. This is the second time in two years and will surely be an embarrassment to them.

Lotus are very pleased with their 3rd place on starting grid, however lament the issues with Kimi's car. As it could have been so much better.

Williams faired much better too, with Maldonado finishing in 8th and hopes to consolidate then move forward. The other WillIams of Brunno Senna will start in 14th.

Mercedes showed strength and speed throughout the the weekend so far. They then continued that into qualification and ended up with a 4th for Schumacher and a 7th for Rosberg.

Red Bull aren't the team they were, they've struggled in practice a then when it mattered. Putting in solid buy unconvincing qualifying session. Perhaps the blown diffuser rules Have hit them heard. Vettel will start back in 6th, a long way from this time last year. Don't write them off yet though, it's o long season to go.

In short we are looking a a battle of the McLaren and the Mercedes tomorrow with a very quick Lotus to be looking out for. It's set up to be a cracker. Don't miss it

Formula One Qualyfying Report - Australia 2012

Front row lock out for McLaren - Lewis 1st, Jenson 2nd

Qualifying 1^st Session

Pre-season over, practice sessions over, no more excuses, the lights turn green, it's time to stand up and be counted.

In the first practice session seven cars are eliminated, as we find out position 18 to 24 on the grid for tomorrows race. The questions as qualifying session one starts are, will HRT make it within the 107% rule and who will be the 7 drivers taking no further part in qualifying?

First out on to the track was Charles Pic, the rookie from Marussia. Hi time a 1:32.349. A surprise for most was to see Vettel out on track early in the session. Most of the top teams are on the harder compound tyre. Half way through the first session, it's the McLarens, Mercedes, Sauber and Wiliams. Are times changing or is this just a precursor to a rush on towards the end of the session.

With under 4 minutes remaining in the session, Massa is in the drop zone. Massa will have to go out again to try a set of soft tyres.

The first major casualty of qualifying one was returning world champion Kimi Raikkonen as he couldn't manage better that 18^th, followed by the usual teams of Caterham, where Kovalinen and Petrov still look like they need to find an extra second in qualifying to get into the midfield. Catherham finished 19^th and 20^th. Next out in 21^st and 22^nd were Glock and Pic for Marussia, despite a lack of winter running have will be on the grid tomorrow. The final two slots were taken by HRT, both De La Rosa and Karthykeyan, but they will struggle to to race given the 107% rue. There will be a lot of persuading going on at the stewards office by the HRT lads.

At the other end, Kobayashi, Vergne and Grosjean completed the top, with Mercedes the only big team to show any action worth noting in this session.

A lot of discussion will no doubt take place about Kimi, but you have to wonder whether this is all an overhang from his steering yesterday, who knows?

Qualifying 2^nd Session

Now we find out who is going to make it through to the top ten shoot out. Can the big teams pull something out of the bag or are we in for that tipsy turvy weekend so many predicted. From what I have seen so far, I am not sure. I would expect a fight between Mercedes and McLaren for poll later but I may well be mistaken.

Paul Di Resta is the first out for this session on soft tyres, the rest soon followed, now the top teams set out to guarantee a place in the top ten shoot-out. It's now we'll see the real times start to poor through. There is 10 minutes to go and I am watching Hamilton light up the timing screens, yet something else has caught me eye, Fernando Alonso beached in the gravel, his session surely over now. Whilst my eyes were diverted, Hamilon went 1^st and Button joined him in 2^nd. Then the session was red flagged with 8 minutes to go while race stewards removed the stricken Ferrari.

The biggest loosers from the red flag were the Mercedes when they had ventured out on a new set of softs and then had to roll back to the pits. We'll see if that makes a difference come the end. Straight away both Mercedes made it to the top of the leaderboard.

It's unusual to see so many mistakes from top drivers here today as they throw their cars round in anger. These cars must feel so different without the blown diffussers.

The Mercedes and McLarens' stayed in the pits straight after the red flag, obviously happy with their times. At the end of that session Alonso was dropped into 11^th and where he will start that race from.

So the seven we loose from this session are (with their grid positions for tomorrows race are);

11^th – Vergne – Toro Rosso

12^th – Alonso – Ferrari

13^th – Kobayashi – Sauber

14^th – Senna – Williams

15^th - Di Resta – Force India

16^th – Massa – Ferrari

17^th – Perez – Sauber

Qualifying Top Ten Shoot out

The cars taking part in the session for pole position are, both Mercedes, Both McLaren's, Both Red Bull's, Grosjean's Lotus, Maldonado's Williams (a great start for them, such improvement on 2011), Hulkenberg's Force India and Ricciardo's Toro Rosso.

Who will be on pole? The next ten minutes will give us the answer. Welcome to the first pole position shoot out of 2012.

McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull will go out on soft tyres for the first two lap run. A great lap by Hamilton, putting in a 1:24.922, a time that will take some beating.

As we get into the the final few minutes of this shoot out, what are we going to see? Vettel will be the final car across the line, so some things never change. The chequered flag falls as all cars are on track setting times. The only car not taking part and therefore happy with 10^th on the grid is Ricciardo.

Schumacher is first to finish on a 1:25:336, followed by Grosjean follows up with a 1:25.302 for provisional 2^nd before Button follows him over the line with a 1:25.07, good enough for 2^nd so far but not good enough to topple Hamilton. Then the final car across is Vettel's Red Bull which was only good enough for 6^th. What an exciting end to the session. Let's catch our breath and look at the times and run down of the top 10 for the grid of the 2012 Australian Grand Prix.

Position	Name	Team	Time
1	Hamilton	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	01:24.92
2	Button	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	01:25.07
3	Grosjean	Lotus Renault	01:25.30
4	Schumacher	AMG Mercedes	01:25.37
5	Webber	Red Bull Racing	01:25.65
6	Vettel	Red Bull Racing	01:25.67
7	Rosberg	AMG Mercedes	01:25.69
8	Maldonado	Williams Renault	01:25.91
9	Hulkenberg	Sahara Force India	01:26.45
10	Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	DNR

A magnificent start to the season with Ferrari's struggling, McLaren on form, a surprise or two. Mercedes looking like they have taken a huge step forward. Perhaps most surprising of all is the lack of Red Bull anywhere near the speed of the top runners. A season of shocks perhaps.

The real answers come tomorrow. Join us tomorrow afternoon for a full race review. Until then, enjoy the racing.