I was away in South Wales on Sunday and only managed to watch the start of the Turkish GP, and later the podium ceremony with Jenson Button on the top step! Actually that was all I needed to see, Sebastian Vettel made a mistake on the first lap which allowed Button through, this messed up Red Bull’s strategy – with their drivers coming second (Webber) and third (Vettel).
Posted in F1
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to watch the race live, consequently I had to avoid hearing or seeing the result until the opportunity came to watch it online with the BBC iPlayer in the evening!
Jenson Button showed his class once again, achieving his fifth win in six races this season. It was also another 1-2 for Brawn GP, with Rubens Barrichello coming in second. A mistake in qualifying for world champion Lewis Hamilton meant that he was nowhere, and suffered the misfortune of being lapped by Button!
I’ve always felt that Button was great driver, and this year he is having the chance to prove it. His very smooth driving style (which is a joy to watch) meant that he was able to look after his tyres better than Barrichello in the opening stint, and he never looked back!
It was great to be able to watch the Spanish GP while away on holiday in Bath, I also had the chance to see the full qualifying session as well.
In the closing moments of qualifying it looked like talented Sebastian Vettel was going to be on pole for Red Bull, but Jenson Button (Brawn GP) knocked him off P1 with only seconds to spare! In the race itself, Button’s team-mate Rubens Barrichello made a great start and got ahead of the championship leader. A strategy change later put him behind Button, with Button winning the race ahead of Barrichello, another 1-2 finish for Brawn GP!
Felipe Massa also got ahead of Vettel at the start, and held him up for most of the race. It was Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber who eventually finished third to complete the podium line-up. Lewis Hamilton finished outside the points in his McLaren.
I was away on a working (although an enjoyable one as well) weekend and thought I might miss the Bahrain GP! Happily, the person we were staying with was pleased for me to have dinner in front of the TV! Yeah! Another win for Jenson Button! The decisive moment of the race was when Button was able to take advantage of a mistake by Hamilton at the end of the first lap to pass the McLaren impressively and move into third place at turn one on the second lap.
Posted in F1 | Tags: bahrain, brawngp, grand-prix, jenson-button, lewis-hamilton, mclaren, ross-brawn, television, tv
Following the abandoned Malaysian GP, where the drivers were only awarded half points, came a wet Chinese GP that started behind the safety car. It was an exciting race, with a 1-2 finish for the Red Bull team who were given their first win by Sebastian Vettel (his second win in F1). The two Brawn GP cars came third and fourth, ensuring that Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello remain first and second in the drivers’ championship after three races. Find out more from the BBC by clicking here! Sebastian Vettel is clearly a driver to watch!
Posted in F1 | Tags: bbc, brawngp, championship, china, chinese, drivers, grand-prix, jenson-button, rain, red-bull, ross-brawn, rubens-barrichello, safety-car, sebastian-vettel, weather, wet
The Malaysian GP in 2009 will be remembered for being stopped due to torrential rain, along with thunder, lightning and bad light! Part of the problem was the fact that the local timing of the race was altered to fit in better with European TV schedules, and this is currently being reviewed. It was also the case for the Australian GP this year, and there was criticism by the drivers of the light conditions. I agree, my feeling is that all races (unless specifically night races) should be started early afternoon local time. Real F1 fans watch races live! Full information about the race can be found here, and my drivers’ results chart can be viewed here.
Posted in F1 | Tags: australia, australian, bad-light, criticism, drivers, grand-prix, light, lightning, malaysia, malaysian, night-race, rain, thunder, tv-schedules, weather
The end of the F1 winter famine (in the northern hemisphere) is always a source of great pleasure to me. The joy of getting up early and settling down to watch the first race of the season is something very special. The pleasure was especially so this year as Brawn GP (rescued from the Honda team who pulled out of F1 after the end of last season) gained a 1-2 victory with Jenson Button the winner of the race. It was also a perfect result for me as Lewis Hamilton (who looks likely to struggle this year in his McLaren team) came an unexpected third. Something for my friend and colleague Chris Hinton to celebrate, having just named his new baby boy Lewis Hinton! Congratulations Chris and Dawn!
Note – The picture shows Jarno Trulli on the right, he was later disqualified giving Lewis Hamilton third place!
Update Thursday 2 April 2009 – Lewis Hamilton and McLaren lose all points putting Jarno Trulli back in third place!
Update Friday 3 April 2009 – I am not a liar, insists Hamilton. This is a sad day for LH, McLaren & F1!
Update Saturday 4 April 2009 - See more here!
Update Monday 6 April 2009 – See more here!
Update Tuesday 7 April 2009 – the story of this race just goes on and on! McLaren are to appear before the FIA in Paris on 29 April.
Posted in F1 | Tags: 2009, australia, australian, brawngp, chris-hinton, fia, grand-prix, honda, jarno-trulli, jenson-button, lewis-hamilton, mclaren, ross-brawn, winter
At the time of posting I am reading the classic science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick, the book that became the movie Blade Runner. The above cover uses the word ‘became’ because there is quite a divergence between the book and the movie. There are also a number of versions of the movie. I have picked out the main versions below, and you can vote on your preferred one!
Posted in Books, Movies, Philosophy, Science | Tags: blade-runner, philipkdick, sci-fi, science-fiction, sf
Over the years I have studied with the Open University and have a BA Degree as a result. I need to complete 60 points at third level to achieve a BA (Hons), and hope to do this in the next few years.
In 2001 I completed a project course, when I wrote a paper on Virtue Ethics. If you’re interested in reading it, please click here for the project in PDF format. It will especially interest Christians, as it considers the ethics of Jesus, and the contrast between law and grace.
Posted in Christian, Ethics, Philosophy, Theology | Tags: 2001, arts, ba, ba-degree, bible, degree, grace, jesus, law, new-testament, old-testament, open-university, project, study, university, virtue, virtue-ethics
I was privileged to have been part of the team coming up with the theme, and preparing the resources for this year’s Commitment Sunday. The theme Walk with me and work with me comes from Matthew 11:28-30 in The Message paraphrase. I’d love to hear from officers, salvationists and others about how they found the materials, and stories about Commitment Sunday in your corps this year.
Posted in Christian, Salvation Army, Worship | Tags: 2009, church, commitment, commitment-sunday, corps, officers, paraphrase, resources, resting, salvationists, the-message, theme, thq, walking, working
