Where's my crystal ball

I also predicted Tander would make a comeback and being the champion he is, he did it in style.  What I didn't foresee was all the heartache our team would suffer.

The biggest upset was my teammate, Jamie, receiving a mechanical black flag in the last few laps of the race when he was challenging for the lead. I didn't see it happen, but I sure found out about it when I got back to the pits.  The officials virtually decided the race with that one.

Jamie was given the orders to obey the black flag and he intended to do so as any of us would.   But then the rear diffuser fell off and he should have been allowed to continue.  The way the situation was handled was very bad and Jamie has a right to feel hard done by.

It's an issue that has now raised its ugly head and we have to sort it out. Unfortunately, Jamie had to pay the price in exposing an area of our rule book that needs a good clean up.  Another issue that needs addressing after the Adelaide race is the kerbing on turn eight.

It was more than a little bit concerning when we first approached that corner to see there were lumps of concrete flying everywhere.  It was lucky nothing was damaged underneath the cars or any tyres blown.

We were instructed not to use the kerb after that.  Turn eight seems to go under the microscope every year and they made another adjustment this year with the kerbing, the wall and the Armco. It was a new design and I think they will have to go back to the drawing board on that one.

Speaking of kerbing, it was also interesting to see the effect of the penalty in qualifying for jumping he kerb in the first chicane.  No one can really complain.  We were all told beforehand what would happen if we jumped the kerb with all four tyres and then right through practice 99 per cent of the drivers got a warning of too much kerb hopping.

You may find this hard to believe given my love of getting some air, but I wasn't one of the 99 per cent, so I was a god boy for a change.  It's difficult, but drivers have to understand that on street circuits there are always going to be tyre bundles and kerbs to keep us away from concrete walls that can do a lot of damage.

Cheeseburger (Shane van Gisbergen) found out what happens when you tangle with the tyre bundles you bend your steering.  We all dislike the tyre bundles and kerbing, but we know why they are there to protect our cars from damage.

I knew it would be a race of carnage and unfortunately our strategy of pitting early put us in amongst the argy bargy of the backmarkers and we found ourselves struggling to fight our way back through the field.  Consequently there were a few incidents along the way, some of which I was on the receiving end of and one involving Will Davison where I was in the wrong.

I was passing Will down the inside of Rick (Kelly) and tagged the back of him sending him around and tagging my own nose. Then I got a hit from behind by Todd (Kelly).  It was a bit of a mess, but it was just one of those incidents.

I spoke to Will after the race and apologised and he was upset but ok and he accepted it.  Our early pit strategy was all about fuel economy which dictated the race and handed victory to Tander.  We still don't really know what our consumption is like, but we're gradually getting some knowledge together.

We were about five laps short of being able to do a two-stop pit strategy like Tander.  Unfortunately our strategy meant we were behind the eight ball after an early pit stop and then struggled to get back our rhythm and track position.

It's a hard enough race being out in front, but back in the pack for 78 laps in a concrete canyon with not a lot of room to manuevre or adjust is nearly impossible.  Impossible doesn't seem to be a word in Michael Schumacher's vocabulary.

After Sunday's race we sat down and watched the Formula One in Abu Dhabi where we were just two weeks ago and I have to say the cars looked fantastic and fast.  Schu did an amazing job of his comeback. To finish in the points on his return to the pinnacle of motor racing is just unbelievable.

It was also pretty amazing to see Ferrari go one-two and to see Massa come back from that horrendous crash of last year.  As a driver I was pleased to know that he had fully recovered from his head injury.

People had doubts and said he wouldn't have the speed or commitment but he proved he hasn't lost anything.  He's good for a championship.