As for the fans, the Japanese
F1 supporters are an incredible breed – they know their stuff and are very dedicated. They all seem to get up at some ridiculous time of the morning to gain a spot and, as the sun comes up as you are out there at the circuit, you see hundreds of thousands of faces looking at you from the grandstands.
Recent form suggests Schumacher and
Ferrari will head the way - they certainly have the momentum.
Felipe Massa’s engine problem shows, however, that the Scuderia are not invincible - quite the contrary, in fact - and that must be a concern. If it had happened to Schumacher’s car, it would have been a disaster.
It didn’t though and, while ‘what ifs’ are interesting, when all is said and done, Schumacher closed the gap again and now leads courtesy of the fact he has taken seven wins this year to Alonso’s six.
Fernando, however, can take strength from the speed of his
Renault R26 and the fact they were more than a match for Ferrari is a good sign for him and his aspirations of taking back-to-back drivers’ titles.
It really is too close to call in my view - they both have a hand on the title...
Of the rest, Honda did well in Shanghai and
Jenson Button managed to grab fourth at the finish, after the mayhem in the closing laps, when he passed
Nick Heidfeld, Pedro de la Rosa and his team-mate,
Rubens Barrichello. Heidfeld was the biggest loser in all that and dropped to seventh as a result.
Honda,
BMW Sauber and
McLaren really head the ‘second division’ at the moment, with the latter threatening to challenge Renault and Ferrari too, although more so with
Kimi Raikkonen than de la Rosa.
It was sad to see Kimi sidelined again, especially when he was running so well. That is just the way the cookie crumbles at times, though - although it always seems more crumbly for Kimi!
