Formula 1 Arrives in Melbourne

It's another gorgeous day in Melbourne and the start of the 2013 Formula 1 season is just days away! Making the headlines this past week was Lewis Hamilton, who managed to secure a paddock pass for his beloved dog. No, I'm not talking about Nicole (oooh that was low!) but rather his new best friend and 'chillaxing' partner Roscoe the bulldog. Hamilton and presumably Roscoe landed in Melbourne recently and the Mercedes star couldn't resist posting this beautiful picture on his twitter account

https://twitter.com/LewisHamilton/status/310851216349483010/photo/1 adding that he was off for a 6am run. While not as scandalous as a post about his team mate's telemetry data, surely the revelation that he and possibly the entire Mercedes team are staying at either the Hilton or Crown Casino is enough to warrant a scolding from Ross Brawn. 

Other drivers have also been tweeting about their arrivals in the city or posting photos from their epic voyages to get here. Fernando Alonso tweeted this artistic snap en route to Australia http://instagram.com/p/WsCsy4Qak6/ and Sauber's latest Mexican recruit, Esteban Gutierrez, took part in a predictable photo shoot involving some kangaroos. http://instagram.com/p/Wp9daWOw90/ 

Jenson Button seemed to have the same idea as I did yesterday, enjoying a spot of beach training in the scorching temperatures 

and Nico Hulkenberg expressed his wish to make it past the first corner on Sunday! 

Notably absent from the Twitter posting frenzy was Kimi Raikkonen, who was probably asleep after eating one too many ice cream sandwiches in a first class cabin somewhere over the Pacific. 

Last but not least was Adrian Sutil. Back on the grid this year after being shunned in the wake of an assault conviction, Sutil still seems to harbor more than a little bit of resentment towards one time friend Lewis Hamilton. Last year I reported that when Hamilton refused to testify at Sutil's court case he had also apparently changed his phone number presumably to avoid confrontation with the bitter German . 

Now that the ghost of glassings past has come back to haunt the British driver, it seems that Hamilton is eager to bury the hatchet. "I have emailed Adrian a couple of times" a needy-sounding Lewis stated " I emailed him a while ago because I heard there was a chance he could get the seat. I just said that I had said a prayer for him, that I really hoped he got the seat because he deserved it and that I really hoped to see him back in Formula 1. I also emailed him on the way here as soon as I found out and congratulated him. I haven't heard back from him but I'm sure at some stage we will get to talk." For his part, Sutil doesn't seem quite as keen. "We have no relationship at the moment. I never saw him, I never spoke to him. I will meet up with him but I don't know what will happen." Oh to be a fly on that wall!

Lewis Hamilton Gets a New Phone Number

It seems as though the catty dispute between Adrian Sutil and Lewis Hamilton is the Formula 1 headline that just won’t die. The one time friends had a falling out over Hamilton’s failure to appear at the former Force India driver’s court case last month. If you don’t keep up with this kind of non-racing related gossip, I will fill you in. Basically, the pair were partying in a Shanghai nightclub last April when Sutil was involved in an altercation with Genii Capital (the owners of Lotus) CEO Eric Lux. Lux received a rumoured twenty four stitches after the incident, which saw Sutil assault him with a champagne glass. Sutil maintains that he only wanted to pour his drink on the Luxembourg businessman, however, given the severity of Lux’s injuries, this explanation seems difficult to believe. The courts agreed, and Sutil was found guilty of grievous bodily harm.

In the aftermath of the verdict, which comes with a suspended 18 month jail sentence, Sutil has lashed out at Hamilton for not lending him his support and even changing his phone number prior to the trial! The twenty nine year old German, who is beginning to sound like a bitter ex-wife, branded the Englishman as a coward. “I do not want to be friends with someone like that.” Sutil stated in Germany’s Bild magazine “He is for me no man.” Sutil’s father Jorge even weighed in on the matter, telling the Munchner Merkur newspaper “I think my son chose the wrong friend.”

To be fair on Hamilton, he was caught between a rock and a hard place. Being involved in such a scandal would have been a publicity nightmare for the McLaren driver after a year of negative press. Sutil is correct, in that Lewis did not exactly handle the matter with maturity and honour, in fact he behaved more like a teenaged boy who didn’t know how to split up with his clingy girlfriend. Still, if Adrian is looking for someone to blame for his problems, he needs only to look in the mirror. As annoying as he is, Hamilton wins this particular paddock catfight, especially because he has refused to comment on the matter.

If Sutil has been left fuming, he can certainly cheer himself up by looking at the many embarrassing Lewis Hamilton photos and videos that are all over the internet. My particular favourite depicts an unsteady Lewis ‘flying’ over a group of men fighting in armour. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3CzMlbd_so Fast forward to 0:50 for an especially funny moment…You’re welcome Adrian!