Fernando Alonso underlines his class but qualifying and DRS far from perfect

Fernando Alonso's 31st Grand Prix victory was a class act and very well judged.

I remember the painful days when we used to line the cars up with the fastest at the front and the slowest at the back on super durable tyres, and then be disappointed that they finished largely in that order. So I'm happy to stand on the grid having conversations with people much cleverer than me who also have no idea who's going to win. I do think that the tyre degradation and difference between the two compounds are a little extreme right now, but Alonso showed perfectly well that it's manageable. As did Red Bull in Malaysia. It does mean though that you really have to pay attention to the race and frankly anybody in the grandstands who doesn't have clear and consistent commentary or pictures and data available must be in the dark as to what's happening once the many and varied pit stops begin. They are complex races without doubt. Many were looking forward to having Webber and Vettel side-by-side after the Malaysia spat for the full 'Red Bull in a China shop' combat. Mark Webber's fuelling issue put him in the pitlane for the start of the race, and then clumsy contact with Vergne forced a pit stop where it seems the rear wheel wasn't attached properly. The Red Bull team are reigning triple world champions, they are unsurprisingly a fiercely professional and dedicated bunch, they get sizeable end of season bonuses based on the Constructors' Championship position, does anybody really think that Webber's problems were somehow intentional? Come on. The double zone DRS rear wing system was too effective in China. Overtakes were not mildly assisted into the braking zones, they were easy pickings down the back straight and occasionally on the pit straight too. The teams have really aced this DRS package and the advantage is now 12 mph, plus the natural slipstream effect. The position and length of the zones need tweaking again at some circuits. Not only Alonso impressed, there were some very good drives from Raikkonen, Hamilton, Vettel, Button, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg and Di Resta. If Red Bull are truly feeling that the Webber/Vettel relationship has become untenable they could do a lot worse than sign Raikkonen now for 2014. They are spoiled for choice too with a trio of young guns in Ricciardo, Vergne and Da Costa. You can't but help feel that Mark needs a new environment too, and I really hope that's in F1 because he's still a front-running class act. MB