Looking ahead to the Turkish Grand Prix over the weekend, Stirling’s Blog previews the race and comments on the Monaco Grand Prix which made Jenson Button a firm contender for the 2009 Driver Championship. 

So Jenson Button won again, and Brawn took another 1-2, in the Monaco Grand Prix, and I think it was possibly the best performance from team and driver yet.

We've already seen how good the Brawn car is, and both drivers are so smooth and accurate, which is very important there, so I must say I wasn't surprised by the result.

Unfortunately, the race wasn't that exciting because it isn't that easy to pass. That meant that, behind the two Brawns, Sebastian Vettel, who was struggling with his tyres, was able to holding up a bunch of cars that were faster than he was. It is one of the problems of Monaco, particularly in the modern guise. If someone has a problem like that, particularly if they are a fighter like he is, he is obviously not going to just pull over and let them pass. On top of that, of course, the distance they need to stop is - from even the highest speed - is so short. In my time, it took you a lot longer to stop from 130-140mph, so it's inevitable that that can happen and, if it's going to happen, Monaco is where it's going to show up most.

In truth, the Red Bull challenge, which I think most people expected to be the biggest one for Brawn, didn't really materialise, but I still don't think the result really surprised anyone that much. The Brawns have shown their dominance up to now and that circuit particularly, with a couple of smooth drivers, played into their hands. 

What was good to see, however, was that Ferrari showed themselves to be back close to the sort of form they've shown in the past. Let's face it, even with all this talk of Ferrari pulling out and so on, Formula One can't exist without them. They do a tremendous job and it could be that they will be the biggest threat to Brawn from now on, although you never know, especially with the Red Bulls. Mark Webber does things you don't normally expect him to do and, while obviously the Brawns are likely to win because they've had an awesome start, I still think we'll see the Red Bulls shine a bit more.

Ferrari coming back to the fore is obviously good but McLaren are clearly still struggling and Lewis Hamilton, unfortunately, is being dragged along with that. His recent performances haven't looked to be those of a champion, I must say, but there are reasons for that. I don't think that the car is anywhere near as good as the others, for one thing.

Lewis is an exciting driver to watch, but I think he is suffering mentally more than physically. This sort of thing can get a driver down - if you start a race thinking 'well, I really don't have a chance', that's a disaster and that's what happening with him. Of course, he was looking good in Monaco, right up to qualifying, but then he made that mistake which saw him crash out. It was a great shame that it happened, but there is no doubt that it was his fault.

I think that the belief that he was trying too hard to overcome the limits of the car has got a lot to do with it. When you've got a car that's not fully competitive, it's something that the driver's got to put to the back of his mind, but Monaco's not really the sort of place where you can relax enough to do that.

On top of it all, McLaren then seemed to make a mistake by fuelling Lewis the wrong way for starting at the back of the grid, and it makes you wonder... Ross Brawn would never have done that. Obviously, though, I wasn't there, and I don't know what the thinking was, but there are so many things that can happen. They'll say, look, what if there was a shunt in the early part of the race - which is quite common - and we've got to save a lot of fuel, and what about this and what about that... I think one needs to be a lot closer than I am to understand why they make these decisions.

Of course, Turkey this weekend poses an entirely different kind of challenge to Monaco, but I still think that Brawn will be the team to beat. At the moment, as far as we can see, the Brawn is still well ahead of everybody else - and they've got two jolly good drivers there, although I don't think they are the fastest. I don't think that Jenson is as fast as Alonso and a few other guys, but they are doing a really good, tidy job and, if you've got a car that is ahead of the others, that's all you need.

The Istanbul circuit appears to one that the drivers seem to enjoy, with turn eight one they always refer too. Not having been there and driven around, it's hard to make a comparison with anything I might have come across but, in any case, in my day, everything was different. You didn't have spin-off zones, and areas to the side of the road that you could run off to - except at the odd airport circuit. Most of the races were on the roads, using the roads as they were. If you went off, you hit a kerbstone or went into something pretty solid, so it's difficult to compare.

BMW Sauber will be hoping that the Turkish race will be a turning point, as they're talking about, finally, introducing their double-decker, or triple-decker, diffuser. I think a lot will depend on how the revised car actually goes, but it's not too late to get something from the season. If they have caught up, and are as good as - or better - than, say, the Brawn, then there are obviously sufficient races left to win it. It would be possible to beat the Brawns and, although I don't think it's likely, if they came out with a car that was miles ahead of the others, with Kubica and Heidfeld, who are pretty good drivers, it could happen.

BMW, of course, is among those embroiled in the dispute over the future of F1, particularly from the manufacturers point of view. They have raised doubts about their future participation, as have Toyota, Renault and Ferrari and have only tendered their entries for next year with conditions.

I like to hope that things can be sorted out. It's so important that there is harmony, it's so important that the FIA listen to the teams and the teams listen to the FIA. You've got a lot of very clever people there and there's no doubt that they are negotiating from their own corner, but I also think that they appreciate that the sport is the most important thing and that, if they go and cripple the racing, they're going to lose a lot of the enthusiasts that follow it now.

Max is a very strong person, which the sport needs - you've got to have someone strong at the head, there's no two ways about it - but he does get these ideas. Ultimately, I hope he's intelligent enough to realise that what the teams are putting forward is a good idea, and they decide to work together - either to find a compromise or something that suits everybody.

The other problem we could face for next season is that, if the current teams get their way - and remain in F1 - we've also got these new teams coming in, so we could be oversubscribed. I think the only way you can sort it out, really, is to say 'put your cards on the table and let's see how fast you are, how good the team is'. I can't see that there is any alternative - you can't really allow anybody to come forward and put their name up if they've got certain credentials and then not let them fight it out and see who comes out on top. Let the cream rise....

Talking about putting cards on tables, a lot of teams have suddenly become more interested in Jenson Button as a driver for next year, but I think he'd be stupid to look around. He's doing so well, the Brawn team are obviously behind him, and we know how good Ross Brawn is, so I can't think of any team in the world, if I was Jenson, that I would even consider. If he's happy there, which he appears to be, and his life's good and he's really competitive, how are you going to better it? 

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