Spanish Grand Prix

I have not posted about GP's for a while so here is my take on the weekends Spanish round of the World Championship.

Held at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona it turned out to be a very incident packed race.

I qualifying the McLaren of Hamilton looked unbeatable and so it proved to be as he set a pole time over half a second faster than the second place man who was a very happy Pastor Maldonado in the Williams. Behind them came Alonso in the Ferrari, Grosjean in the Lotus, Raikkonen in the Lotus and Perez in the Sauber.
So where were the Red Bulls? Well Vettel was in 8th after not setting a time in Q3 and Mark Webber was in 12th one place behind a strangely slow Button both of who failed to get into Q3.

So that was it then, Hamilton was going to run away with it? Well, no. He stopped on his in lap after the team told him to turn off the engine as they would not have enough fuel for a mandatory fuel sample due to a technician not filling up the fuel tank enough. This was deemed in contravention of the rules and he was thrown out of the qualifying session meaning he had to start from the back of the grid in last place.

So Williams and Maldonado had a pole but they also had the fast starting Alonso next to them. Interesting times.

At the start Alonso snatched the lead with Maldonado following close behind. The Ferrari slowly opened a gap and although the Williams did cut it back they did not look as if they were going to get past. They took an earlier pit stop to try to get the undercut and Ferrari followed suit 2 laps later but it was not enough as the Williams roared into the lead.
Despite a slow pit stop later on the Williams retained the lead to the end although the Ferrari pushed him until a few laps from the end he slowed due to a problem with his car and looked like he might fall victim to a late charge from Raikkonen but he managed to just about hang onto second. Grosjean made it a Lotus 3-4 with Kobyashi, Vettel, Rosberg, Hamilton, Button and Hulkenberg rounding out the top 10.

After this race Vettel and Alonso are tied on 61 points with Hamilton just behind on 53 so the title race is still very close and nobody will stick their neck out to predict who will win, what a brilliant season it is turning out to be.

So that was it, Williams end their win drought and we add a new driver and country to the list of winners (Venezuela), we now all pack up and move onto Monaco. Well, no, Williams hit the news yet again as a fire broke out in their garage and was tackled by members of the team helped by those from Caterham and Force India. Luckly it was put out fairly quickly and injuries were few with one person burnt and several others suffering from smoke inhalation.

I am now really looking forward to Monaco in two weekends time

Lord of the Rings

I recently found out my box set of the extended versions of this brilliant trilogy of films. I had thought that I lost it and was very pleased to rediscover it again.

A viewing session was required and so I set about watching them again and rediscovering the magic of the world created by J.R.R.Tolkien and bought to the screen by Peter Jackson.

The story is one of battling overwhelming odds where the strength of an army is useless to win the day, what is needed is stealth and bravery by the least heroic looking beings in the story.

The story revolves around a ring of power created by the Evil Lord Sauron which contains his evil spirit and which cannot be destroyed except by taking it back to where it was forged in the volcano Mount Doom.

The story unfolds of Frodo Baggins, a Hobbit, and his journey to the volcano to destroy the ring. Around him there is a tight circle of companions who, despite being separated early on, fight for him and help him on his way.

During the film there are 2 major battles, the first at the fortress of Helms Deep and the second on the plains surrounding Minas Tirith and, despite the overwhelming odds, the men with their allies the Elves win through.

What happens at the end I will leave for you to find out but the real pleasure in these films is not the ending but the wonderful journey that you participate in that makes this worthwhile. From the claustrophobia of the Mines of Moria to probably the best battle ever put on film, the Battle of Helms Deep, you are never allowed to get bored.

I would recommend anyone to watch the film in whatever form you can find it but the extended version is the best as it has far more information about the people and places that you encounter along the way.