Thoughts on Bahrain

Well, I don't like to boast but I should point out that I did predict Massa dominating the Bahrain GP and I was right. So, stick with this blog and you can impress your friends with your foresight. Anyway, well done me and Massa.

I only want to mention one thing about Bahrain GP and for me that was the hint that Honda might actually be making a small step towards becoming vaguely competitive rather than a laughing stock.

It'd be difficult for them to be much worse than they were last year but pre-season testing seemed to suggest that they might actually be. However, come Melbourne it wasn't as bad as was predicted with them lining up 10th and 12th. Malaysia they lined up 11th and 14th with Button setting the 4th fastest lap.

In Bahrain Button and Barrichello managed to qualify 9th and 12th although the race didn't pan out as well as could have been expected. However, are we starting to see the influence of Ross Brawn?

Many times a tech director will change team and talk about their 3 year or 5 year plan and then never actually end up delivering anything, but Brawn is different. He has a devastating track record and despite some of the questionable things that Ferrari have done, you still have to have respect for what he's done over the years. Just having him in your team and knowing that he's got a plan to win the world championship with you would be enough to get you to work just that little bit harder - because you have confidence in what he's doing. That's something that Honda has been lacking since they got rid of Geoff Willis.

So is it just a brief upsurge in their performance or are we starting to see a comeback for Honda? I wouldn't like to say and it's far too early in the season to be confident about such a thing, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it was the latter - and if so, I'd be extremely impressed at how quickly Brawn had managed to assert himself.

Time will tell

Prediction for the weekend

I like to put my head on the block every now and again. It gives me an opportunity to be smug when I'm right and for others to laugh at me when I'm wrong.

I was toying with the idea of predicting the podium this weekend but it would be a bit dull predicting Hamilton, Raikkonen and Massa each race so I'm going to try to predict the winner instead.

So, the winner on Sunday will be........Felipe Massa.

Yes, fresh from me mocking him the other day for throwing away the championship (which he still won't win, despite this weekends crushing win), I still think he'll win the race and make some comment about his championship being back on track.

Why do I think he'll win? Because he wants the chamionshoip enough to be desperate to get it back on track again Raikkonen and Hamilton, both of whom will be looking slightly long term. If Massa drove like this all of the time then he might win the championship but he doesn't. This weekend though, he will, and he'll win.

That's my prediction - prepare to congratulate or mock me!

Is Massa already out of the championship?

It looks hard for him doesn't it? 14 points behind Hamilton and 11 behind his team mate. Of course, it's far too early to be writing him off but I'm not convinced that he's good enough to claw back that gap - especially when you're up against guys like Hamilton and Raikkonen, both of whom know how to get the points even when things are up against them.

Massa on the other hand still makes silly mistakes (2 unprompted spins in 2 races this year) and isn't known to be able to deliver when the chips are down.

In some ways he's a little like Ralf Schumacher - when things are right then he's fantastic but if something goes wrong then his chin drops and he can be woeful.

But I don't support it's all over yet - he won from pole last year and if he can do the same again this year then that'll help him.

However, I think it's a long shot. For me, the championship this year is between Hamilton and Raikkonen with Kovalainen pushing them all them way.