With three races down – is the new points system working if Felipe Massa is leading?

With three races completed, Bahrain, Australia and Malaysia there have been three winners so far, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Sebastien Vettel but it’s Felipe Massa who leads the Championship. It may be by only 2 points but it seems strange that a points system that was designed to give winning races more emphasis is being led by a driver who hasn’t won yet.
The table itself is very close with 9pts covering the first 7 drivers:

1. Felipe Massa
Ferrari
39

2. Fernando Alonso
Ferrari
37

3. Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull Racing
37

4. Jenson Button
McLaren
35

5. Nico Rosberg
Mercedes GP
35

6. Lewis Hamilton
McLaren
31

7. Robert Kubica
Renault
30

Though I doubt this will hold all season it does mean that you can hold onto the people who are winning even if you don’t manage it yourself. I’m sure that Felipe Massa will be wanting to win and justify that position at the top but with all the different people who seem to be in with [...]

Button wins in Australia for McLaren

Jenson Button gave a masterclass to the other drivers, he was the bravest man on the tyres and his smooth style meant that he could finish the race on the same tyres that that he drove 4/5ths of the race on. While all the other drivers were fighting and struggling on the worn tyres Jenson Button serenely drove on at the front on his way to his first victory at McLaren.
The race itself was a much better show than in Bahrain and it seems clear that it would have been even if there hadn’t been the rain at the start. The track lends itself more to overtaking than Bahrain though Michael Schumacher will probably disagree given the amount of time that he spent behind Jaime Alguersuari.
The Red Bulls suffered from mechanical failure again as Sebastien Vettel had a brake failure on his way to retirement and Mark Webber misjudged a [...]

Looking forward to the Australian GP…

The Australian GP is now less than a week away and with all the main teams having had a week to digest what happened in Bahrain what can we expect from the various players? Will the Ferrari’s run away with the race again? Will the Red Bull have and an answer? Will Michael Schumacher be on the pace? Will the McLaren be fast enough to challenge?
It seems that the Australian GP is a much less predictable track though it does seem to show who’ll win the championship as over the last ten years only twice has the winner not gone on to clinch the title. It seems unlikely that the Ferrari will romp away with the victory this time out as the other teams may have the pace here. The McLaren’s rear wing won’t help them too much but any time counts.
Michael Schumacher should be more on the pace here [...]

Can Sebastien Vettel go one step further this season?

Sebastien Vettel stormed his way to second place in the World Championship in 2009 and he’ll want to go one step futher in 2010. The competition this season will be stronger for sure, McLaren and Ferrari won’t be off the pace and Mercedes will be in close company too so he’ll have to perform better than last year.
Red Bull seem quietly confident about their car, it has done well in winter testing but rarely did it grab the headline times – it did run faster more consistently than some though. It seems that they won’t miss out on any technical oversights like last year with the double diffuser – they would probably be world champions if they had used one from the first race in 2009.
To beat Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher to the title Vettel needs to start the season with the same raw [...]