[MK Chris]

I hated Jim Rosenthal, aside from the adverts he was the worst thing about ITV's coverage!

[wireman2004]

Jim Rosenthal wasn't that bad when you consider we had Steve Ryder most of the time pre Itv.
Would you of ever seen him doing gangham style like jake, dc and Eddie or Simon labenzy, martin, Ted and pinkum.

Jim Rosenthal atleast had some energy. Unlike Steve Ryder who sounded like he is useless without a script or Tele promoter.

[MK Chris]

Jim Rosenthal had * ALL energy!

[MadTheEddos]

I'm hoping Vettel doesn't dominate in India and Abu Dhabi. Both are tracks where he's traditionally(If said tracks are old enough to have tradition) been strong, and if he wins them this year it'll ruin what has been a cracking title battle up to this point.
While I'm a Vettel fan, I'm a bigger fan of the sport itself and want this year to have a decent finale.

[MadTheEddos]

Watching the Indian GP now. Surprisingly good opening few laps. Think this is one of the better Tilke tracks.

[MadTheEddos]

Watching Free Practice 1 from Yas Marina. This track bores me big time but at least this race is run at a cool local time with the transition from day -> night.
I'm liking that John Watson is commentating on this - I've always thought he's underrated as an F1 commentator.

[Senninha25]

I've grown used to the John Watson-Ben Edwards tandem when they covered the Eurosport F1 races in the mid-90's, they were a nice alternative to Murray Walker-Jonathan Palmer when the BBC didn't cover certain sessions.

Anyway, shock of the day - Kimi Raikkonen finally wins for Lotus! I didn't see yesterday's race (out of bandwidth), but from what I read, it wasn't as boring as the previous races in Abu Dhabi...

[MadTheEddos]

The Abu Dhabi GP was brilliant!! Easily the best race at Yas Marina, and the best race this year too IMO. For me it was up there with Interlagos 2008 and Korea 2010 - loads of excitement and suspense right the way through, and unforeseeable incidents and events basically from start to finish. Basically, F1 at its very best.
Amazing win by Kimi! Showed his true class as a driver, and I loved his replies to the team whenever they spoke to him on the radio too. Great drive by Alonso to get up to 2nd and reduce the points gap to Vettel at a critical stage. And brilliant recovery drive by Vettel too! To get up to 3rd after starting from the pit lane and then needing to change the front wing was just epic - I don't care if the Safety Car worked to his advantage a bit later on.
Perfect drive by Lewis - he was just plain unlucky. McLaren have some major issues with their reliability at the moment.

By the way, the interview on the podium afterwards was brilliant too! Some genuine LOL moments there.

I've grown used to the John Watson-Ben Edwards tandem when they covered the Eurosport F1 races in the mid-90's, they were a nice alternative to Murray Walker-Jonathan Palmer when the BBC didn't cover certain sessions.

I love those EuroSport live recordings from the 90s too - I've been watching a few races from 1994 recently. I think John Watson was great back then - I'd like to see him in the main commentary booth TBH.

[MK Chris]

Great race, yet again Lewis is unlucky though... and Seb drove well, but had some amazing luck as well. I think we are facing the real possibility that the driver who wins the title is actually the third best driver from the year - Lewis and Alonso are easily the best drivers pound for pound over the course of the season.

[dimtimjim]

Lewis has driven as well this year as any, top notch, but has been let down by the team and car too often. Which, for a team of McLaren standing is not good enough. I still don't think L was right to sign for Merc, but on this basis, I can see why he was tempted away. Lets hope the millions they are prepared to spend on him do the job.

My preverted side wants Vetel to win it this year, and if i'm honest for the next 4 years after that too, just to shove it up Shoemakers arse.

[MadTheEddos]

I think Lewis is right to take on a new challenge. Things between him and McLaren had gotten stale and he needed to try something different. Plus, because Mercedes are so shit just now, he won't get a hard time if he doesn't do well straight away after joining them - but he will get a lot of credit for helping turn the team round if they start winning regularly.

[BBQ]

Button recently said that the current McLaren car is the worst he has had since joining the team.
It will be interesting to see how all the teams do when the new engines are used in 2014.

[MadTheEddos]

It's certainly the strangest McLaren for several seasons at least in terms of its inconsistent performance on various different tracks, and even with changes in track conditions over a weekend. Even with a field as close as this one has been, it's unusual to have a car fluctuating this much. It wasn't unusual in the 60s and 70s, but it has been since about 30 years ago.

[BBQ]

I think at the start of the season he was very happy with his car. The pit stops were atrocious the first few races

[MadTheEddos]

It started the season looking like the car to have, the same way the Red Bull had been for the last couple of years. But then the team seemed to lose their way with it. Hope they can sort it for next year - I want to see Perez in a really top car.

[MK Chris]

It will be interesting to see how Perez does. I tend to subscribe to the Coulthard view that you never know how that sort of pressure of driving for a top team will change someone, but I still might stick a cheeky fiver on him for the title... I've not seen the odds, but I bet it's worth a very very outside shot!

[BBQ]

It will be interesting to see how Perez does. I tend to subscribe to the Coulthard view that you never know how that sort of pressure of driving for a top team will change someone, but I still might stick a cheeky fiver on him for the title... I've not seen the odds, but I bet it's worth a very very outside shot!

If you do put money on him and the unlikely chance he wins the drivers championship next year, you will get a great return on your bet.

[jocky85]

Was lucky enough to meet Jake Humphrey today, bought his new book & got it signed. He's a really nice guy. Not much of a chance to chat F1 though, so much I wish I could've said!

[BBQ]

Safe bet to see in public, if you saw EJ you might go blind from looking at his shirt.

I like some of EJ's shirts, just having some fun as Jake and David both comment on how loud they are.

[bladeslee]

here goes my 1st proper post

i do seriously think Perez could challenge for the world championship his performances at Malaysia, Canada, Germany & Italy prove he can race well at the from & his performances have dipped but i think the McLaren move has distracted him & people said the same about lewis hamilton in 2007 he is a young kid, his team-mate is Alonso & yet he nearly won the title in his rookie year

according to william hill 2013 odds are
Sebastian Vettel 11/8
Fernando Alonso 5/2
Jenson Button 8/1
Lewis Hamilton 12/1
Sergio Perez 12/1
Kimi Raikkonen 14/1
Mark Webber 14/1
Nico Rosberg 33/1
Romain Grosjean 40/1
Felipe Massa 50/1

[dimtimjim]

Great USofA grand prix, well done LH. Another cracking race by Grandpoppa-Shoemaker, only one more and he'll be gone for good - pleased he decided to come back and tarnish his reputation though, good man. Looking forward to Brasil, should be a great end to a great season. Can't wait.

[BBQ]

Here I was dreading another Red Bull win plus an end to the drivers championship. I was hoping that the driver championship would be decided in Brazil and not only did that happen but Lewis won!

[jocky85]

Does anyone else find no matter what aspect you have the tv screen on, the names/times are cut off on the left of the screen?

[MK Chris]

No, I always see it fine. Lewis is clearly enjoying his final days at McLaren, great lap!

[jocky85]

Lewis deserves more than he's got this season. He should easily be a championship contender in my opinion