With only a few more weeks until the biggest celebration of football kicks off, I’ve come to the conclusion that the non-england games just won’t be all that exciting. I mean, you won’t have the constant feelings of fear, doubt and penaltyshootoutphobia and without something like that, it’s just not the same.

That’s why me and a mate are taking a little challenge over the next month. Deposit a fiver into a Will Hill account and make it last the whole tournament. We’re still a little sketchy on the rules but, the max stake per bet is 25p and you have to place a bet every single day (maybe even one per match, like I said a little sketchy).

I’m not for or against betting myself but I’ve spent £5 worse over the course of a month, so this should make the minimum five thousand and six hundred and seventy minutes be a whole lot more enjoyable. After all, it matters more when there is money on it. That should probably be a slogan for something. Hmm.

Anyway, if anyone wants to take part, drop a comment. I’d be interested to hear if anyone would like to ‘compete’ for the best ’score’.

After last year’s disappointing climax of the usually incident-provoking rain, en masse, the fact that this year’s Malaysian Grand Prix stayed bone dry throughout was equally as disappointing.

It seems, at the moment, that rain is the only thing that can spice up an Grand Prix race. Something that was quite evident in last week’s Australian GP and the Malaysian qualifying itself, the latter resulting in a slightly back-to-front grid. Unfortunately the muddled pack took little time in sorting itself out with Hamiltion looking impressive yet again, after storming up eight places from a lowly twentieth on the first lap alone.

Once the Ferrari and McLaren cars were in their rightful places the race became a formality with no-one being able to chase down the leading Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber, respectively. Once order was restored only rain could provide for some excitement, something that Malaysia normally delivers in abundance, but it wasn’t to be.

However, despite how underwhelming today’s race was, it has given us one mouthwatering sight. The drivers championship standings make for some interesting reading with just four points between the top five drivers. Somehow Massa is top of the charts but with the Red Bull’s gremlins seemingly cleared, expect Vettel and Webber to be thrown into the mix come the Chinese GP in a little under a fortnight’s time. *

Driver of the Day: Jaime Alguersuari has been incredibly lacking in pace since replacing Bourdais midway through the last F1 Campaign. However, today he showed why he should be at this level, putting in a fantastic drive for ninth place to score his first championship points.

Team of the Day: It’s tough to look past the Red Bulls after a comfortable 1-2 finish at the Sepang circuit despite Toro Rosso, Ferrari and McLaren all looking solid.

The equivalent of the Superbowl, World Cup final and whatever NBA does rolled into one. Or at least that’s what they’ll tell you in an attempt to get you to buy Wrestlemania for another year.

Needless to say this year’s event was another disappointment that I’m glad I didn’t pay for. I’m not really interested in the whole business any more, at least not as much as I used to be, but I’m constantly informed through podcasts and friends. However, I’ll only ever watch or care when something important might be happening – not that it ever does.

After the backlash to the less-than-impressive Bahrain GP, the heat was on in Australia, or not as it turned out. Light rain caused mayhem during the first half of the race as the teams and drivers struggled with tyres on the slippery conditions in Albert Park.

It’s really just a shame that after the first half, the action was left to a single tightly packed bunch of drivers from Kubica in second to Webber down in seventh. Here positions changed as drivers make mistakes and slipped on the quickly drying surface.

The problem is, and it’s something we’ve been experiencing for a while, is that Hamilton was catching up to the two Ferraris in 3rd and 4th respectively. As soon as he was within overtaking distance, he was caught in the turbulent air and had to resign to following the tail end of Alonso’s Ferrari for the rest of the race.

Proving that the rules have changed nothing, the aerodynamics are clearly too good for exciting racing. Meaning that no matter how much they change the rules, we’re still relying on driver error and wet stuff. Luckily Australia was full of both and it created an excellently exciting race. ****

Driver of the Day: Despite Button making the risky call to change tyres early on, it has to go to the man on the other side of the McLaren garage. Hamilton was just one pitstop too many from scoring a well-deserved podium.

Team of the Day: I’d give it to Renault for upsetting the top four but Petrov spun out and while Ferrari placed the highest they always looked under threat and Massa actually had a bad drive despite ending up third. Ferrari by default but no one team really stood out.

New teams, new circuits, new rules, new regulations, new team-mates, new challenges, new drivers, old drivers and even returning drivers. However for all this, it was definitely a classic case of the more things change, the more they stay the same with the return of Formula One for another year.

Last year’s rule changes to encourage overtaking simply failed and 2010 hopes to rectify that, unfortunately everyone was too cautious to do anything for the first race of nineteen in the new calendar. It was mainly the long two minute track that caused it all though, as the gap between the contenders and the stragglers was exaggerated creating an incredibly staggered field. It was great though, to see both Lotus cars finish the race after new teams Hispania and Virgin went out quite early.

At the front however, Vettel clearly deserved it and probably would have held on despite a probable Hollywood finish. The truth is that the Ferrari car clearly isn’t up to spec despite finishing one-two due to a pair of overheating engines. The return of Schmacher was underwhelming but expected, he hasn’t driven at this level in years and is clearly having some teething problems with the new cars.

The new rules should create for some interesting watching on the shorter tracks, especially with the packed grid we now have. Exciting starts should lead into early pit stops with a shuffled pack starting to get settled during the middle of the race, as soon as they do tire-wear and burnt fuel should have an affect to create a highlight reel finish. It’s just a shame that the highlight reel finish never happened in Bahrain. Maybe Melbourne will live up to the expectations the new rules and regulations have promised.

Driver of the Day: Sebastian Vettel was incredibly unlucky not to pick up the win and despite losing focus during the middle, he held off an eager Rosberg.

Team of the Day: I guess I should pick Ferrari but they were gifted it after exhaust problems on Vettel’s Red Bull. With that said, it’s got to go to new boys Lotus, not only did they finish – a remarkable accomplishment of itself – but they recorded some respectable lap times.