Birthdays

It's birthday season in our home. It's my birthday this coming Saturday and my eldest boy's on Sunday. At the end of the month it's my youngest's birthday followed closely at the beginning of next month by my wife. So here comes the question I (almost) dread to hear; What do you want for your birthday?

I never know what to answer. Usually I can't think of anything or want something expensive, like an iPad or some other must-have device. This year I'm making much more of an effort to smarten myself up and I've already been looking for a nice suit jacket. Guess what? I was given an early birthday present today.




I've got a hat. I've got some shoes. I've got a shirt. I've got some trousers. I've got a tie. Can you tell what it is yet?

Sorry, me old China.

I've done it again and forgotten to post a race report. It's a little late to cover the events of the Chinese Grand Prix so I'll sum it up like this: On the top step of the podium was Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, flanked by Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) in second and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) in third.
Short and sweet.




And so onto the Bahrain qualifying session. Mercedes' Nico Rosberg took pole position, followed by Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Alonso, Hamilton and Mark Webber (Red Bull). Both Mark and Lewis have grid penalties which will drop them into 8th and 9th, respectively.
6th place, moving up to 4th, goes Felipe Massa (Ferrari), with Force India team mates, Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil close behind. Raikkonen also moves up to 7th from 9th place and Jenson Button (McLaren) is the last of the top ten qualifiers. Which neatly brings me to my reason for writing this ahead of the race.

Where the hell are McLaren? In terms of the drivers and constructors championships they're as good as going backwards. Button, 2009 F1 world champion, sounded over the moon to make it into the top ten and his team mate, Sergio Perez (my favourite young driver of the past few seasons), could only manage 12th. This from a team that has a higher win rate than any other team in Formula 1 history!




I love McLaren but unless they get their act together they'll be left behind by Ferrari and Red Bull and overtaken by Mercedes, Lotus and (to add insult to injury) Force India.
I'll be keeping my fingers crossed all day on Sunday.

Did you see the Malaysian Grand Prix?

The Malaysian GP seems like weeks ago... because it was. I never got round to posting a report, so here is a brief catch up.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso lost the front wing under his car on the pit straight on lap 2 after a touch with Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull at turn 2 of the previous lap and went flying off the track. Race over for Alonso.




Too brief?
Alright, a little more.




Vettel showed his true colours by overtaking team mate, Mark Webber for 1st place in the final phase of the race after receiving instructions to hold position from the pit wall. Mark was not a happy bunny, to say the least.







By contrast, Mercedes' Nico Rosberg showed his team colours by doing what was asked of him. He found himself rapidly catching his team mate, Lewis Hamilton, and after several requests to overtake were denied, settled for 4th place behind Lewis. I doubt Nico was a happy bunny either but at least he has respect, both for and from his team.




Next stop China.

Travelling in style

There's something very civilised about travelling by train. I'm not talking about the London Underground, that can be a nightmare during rush hour, etc. I mean travelling in comfort, watching the countryside pass by the window, mile after mile.

I went on a trip recently and recorded some random video clips, cut them together and put it to music. This is it.

http://youtu.be/CDTuE85Vehg

I hope you like it.

Lost for words

Sometimes I just don't have anything to say.

Trilby Vs Fedora

I'm very much a hat person. For many years the baseball cap has been my headwear of choice and I have a flat cap I occasionally wear but recently I've decided to branch out and try something with a bit of class, something with character. The question is: which hat do I choose?

Trilby: Frank Sinatra, Pete Docherty, Justin Timberlake, The Blues Brothers, Olly Murs,

Fedora: Indiana Jones, Humphrey Bogart, Dick Tracey, Johnny Depp, Michael Jackson

Suggestions?

F1 Down Under

What can I say? The Australian Grand Prix had everything I love about Formula 1 and threw up a few surprises as well. The biggest surprise for this McLaren fan was how far off the pace their cars were. By contrast, Force India and Mercedes have cars that are stronger than last year and have the potential to score solid points.




So, the results. On the podium there were three F1 world champions. Sebastian Vettel, champion for the last three seasons in a row at Red Bull and expected to dominate again this year, came in third. In second place, 2005 and 2006 world champion, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, desperate for a third title after driving the nuts off last year's car. Standing on the top step, driving for Lotus, Kimi Raikkonen. The iceman won the 2007 world championship with Ferrari and is, in my view, one of the greatest drivers in Formula 1 today.




The other point scorers, from 4th to 10th, were Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Mark Webber (Red Bull), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Paul di Resta (Force India), Jenson Button (McLaren) and Romain Grojean (Lotus).
My latest crush, Sergio Perez, finished just outside the points in 11th. I have high hopes for this young Mexican, scoring three podiums last season, and can't wait for his first win with McLaren.




I've barely had time to enjoy the first Grand Prix of the new Formula 1 season and the circus has already moved on and is setting up for the second race in Malaysia. In just a few hours the action starts again.
How time flies.

Day 140: Moody

On Monday, when I last spoke to my psychologist, she suggested I keep a mood chart. The idea is that every hour of each day I should mark out of a hundred how I rate my mood. The hardest part for me has been to decide which mood I should rate.

The example I was given was for depression, which seems pretty obvious for someone in my situation, but giving depression a high mark (e.g. 80) when I'm feeling down goes against the grain. It just feels wrong. So after two days I still haven't chosen a mood to rate. I don't exactly want the opposite of depression but I'd like something positive. Jolly? Cheerful?

Somebody, please suggest a mood for me. I don't know why I find it so hard. At this rate I'll have an empty chart to show my psychologist next week.




Do you think this counts?

Unqualified

I really enjoyed the first qualifying session of the Australian Grand Prix, it was like Formula 1 had never been away for the winter. Such a shame that we'll have to wait until tomorrow for the second and third sessions as they were cancelled due to the Melbourne race track being rained out.

It reminds me of the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix when the race was halted and restarted several times, making it (if I remember correctly) the longest race in F1 history. And then there was the Japanese GP a few years earlier which held qualifying and the GP on the same day as the result of a typhoon.




Let's hope the weather is a little kinder to us on race day because I for one cannot wait until the 2013 season to get under way. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) is eyeing up his fourth championship title in a row with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso looking to spoil that with his third title. Relative newcomer Sergio Perez moves into Lewis Hamilton's vacated seat at McLaren, hoping to increase his chances of a maiden win and possibly a maiden title, alongside 2009 champion, Jenson Button. While Lewis himself has chosen to move to Mercedes with his GP2(?) team mate, Nico Rosberg. And, of course, Kimi Raikkonen, driving for his second season with Lotus, eager to win his second championship since 2007. And, and, and... It's all too much!

I say it every year and I see no reason to change now:
F1 HERE WE COME!

F1 to come

As of this season I'll be writing my Formula 1 posts from this blog. It doesn't really make sense for me to have two blogs on the go at the same time because I don't have a huge following on either of them.
I'll be keeping my other blog around for a while, mostly for archive purposes, but also as a way for anyone remotely interested in what I have to write to be able to find this blog.
All previous posts can be found here: http://agent337.wordpress.com/