Kiefer Sutherland has a Confession to make

After eight nightmare days protecting America from evil terrorists in the popular real-time drama ’24’ Kiefer Sutherland is back in a new web-based episodes called ‘The Confession’.

The series consists of ten short video clips that are around five to seven minutes long and is only available on the US video streaming site Hulu. The first three episodes can be seen online.

The Confession is a unique story of redemption and an exploration of good and evil featuring a hit-man (Kiefer Sutherland) and a priest (John Hurt).

Here’s a trailer courtesy of YouTube and first impressions are it’s great to see Jack Bauer once again!

Each episode ends with a cliffhanger and it’s certainly intriguing to see what happens next.

For the latest news on forthcoming episodes be sure to check out The Confession’s Facebook page.

Vettel takes commanding victory in Melbourne

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel kicked off his 2011 season with a perfect start by winning the Australian Grand Prix in his ‘Kinky Kylie’.

It was a comfortable victory for the German, his eleventh career Grand Prix win and Red Bull Racing’s first in Melbourne. Vettel’s victory was more than 20 seconds from Lewis Hamilton, underlining the speed advantage with the RB7.

The season-opening Australian Grand Prix proved intriguing but to be honest, did not deliver the level of drama many predicted especially with the new Drag Reduction System and the Pirelli tyres.

Lewis Hamilton finished in second position for McLaren despite a damaged underfloor, while the star of the race was Renault’s Vitaly Petrov. The Russian made the most of his excellent start and thanks to a clean, consistent driving Petrov achieved his maiden podium in third.

While the top trio made it to the finish on a two-stop strategy, the idea of stopping three times were consigned to Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber. This gamble didn’t work out and the pair finished in fourth and fifth respectively.

For Alonso, he was able to recover following a bad start in which he was pushed down to ninth at Turn 1. As for Webber, the home crowd favourite, he was unable to match the pace compared to his team-mate and fifth was the result. Equalling his finishing position the Australian scored for Minardi in 2002 and for Williams in 2005.

As for Jenson Button, the McLaren driver was only sixth after being penalised with a drive-through penalty for an incident with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.

Vettel broke away from the 22-car field in the opening stages of the Australian Grand Prix, leading by three seconds after just two laps, with Hamilton and Webber holding second and third.

Petrov had made an excellent start to blast through to fourth, with Button and Alonso going wide at Turn 1 as they went three-abreast with the Renault, allowing Massa to slip ahead of Button and leaving Alonso right down in ninth by the time he got off the kerbs and grass.

Alonso made very swift progress past Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, and was soon catching Massa and Button – whose battle for fifth place was frantic. With his Drag Reduction System making little difference, Button tried all kinds of creative racing lines to get ahead the Ferrari, with no success until lap 10, when he went around the outside into the fast left-right Turn 11/12 at the end of the back straight, but had to take to the escape road and cut the second part of the corner to complete it.

That would lead to a drive-through penalty, while Alonso immediately pounced and passed his Ferrari team-mate into Turn 13 as the Brazilian regained momentum after his near-miss with Button.

Before he took his penalty, Button had a brief battle with Vettel, who had made a relatively early pit stop on lap 14 and emerged behind the McLaren. Hamilton had reduced the flying Red Bull lead down to 1.5 seconds by then, but staying out two laps later before his first tyre stop cost the McLaren time to the leader rather than being an advantage – as even after having to battle past Button around the outside of Turn 4, Vettel was 6.5 seconds clear of Hamilton once both were back up to speed.

That time gap rapidly grew to 12 seconds over the next stint – and the reason became clear when sparks started shooting out from under the McLaren, the front part of its floor having become detached and started rubbing on the ground. Aside from a trip over the Turn 1 grass, Hamilton did a remarkable job to keep his MP4-26 both on the road and near the lead pace – though his chances of pressuring Vettel were over and the German cruised to an ultimately comfortable victory in the RB7.

Webber was unable to keep up with the leading two and by half-distance was 26 seconds adrift and only just ahead of Petrov and Alonso. Both the Red Bull and Ferrari chose to make three pit stops, while Petrov – like Vettel and Hamilton – changed tyres just twice.

Alonso got ahead of Webber at the third stops, helped by the Red Bull running wide at Turn 3 on its out-lap. With Webber on the softer ‘Option’ tyres for the final stint, he was able to attack Alonso at first, before the Ferrari pulled out some breathing space. Both charged up behind Petrov in the final laps, but the Russian had just enough in hand to hold on and take a brilliant third. Fifth-placed Webber parked his Red Bull on the grass immediately after crossing the line.

Button fell to P12 following his penalty but recovered to sixth, finally making it past Massa again with 12 laps to the flag. The Ferrari then made a late tyre stop, leaving Massa ninth behind the Saubers.

Sergio Perez took an impressive seventh on his debut, having managed to get through the full race distance with just a single tyre change on lap 23. That left the Mexican not far adrift of Button, and clear of Sauber team-mate Kobayashi.

Sebastien Buemi took the remaining point for Toro Rosso, edging out the Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta.

For Paul di Resta, to finish in his maiden Grand Prix in P12 was a solid performance from the DTM champion. His drive was consistent and if he keeps this performance up, the Scot will be scoring championship points soon.

In fact, Paul di Resta was rewarded his first championship point following the disqualification of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi over a technical infringement post-race. See comments below for further details.

Rubens Barrichello provided plenty of entertainment in the first half of the Grand Prix, as he recovered from a first-lap trip over the Turn 3 gravel and scorched through the field with a series of overtaking moves.

But a wild dive down the inside of Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes at Turn 3 on lap 23 was just too bold, and left Barrichello spinning, needing a new front wing and earning a drive-through penalty. Rosberg had to retire in a cloud of smoke, his cooling system seemingly damaged in the impact, while Barrichello eventually parked his car too.

His Mercedes team-mate Michael Schumacher sustained a puncture when hit by Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari on the first lap, and eventually retired due to the after-effects after 19 laps trailing around at the back. Alguersuari needed a new front wing and finished P13.

Petrov’s Renault team-mate Nick Heidfeld made little progress from his poor grid position and was only P14 ahead of final finishers Jarno Trulli in the Lotus and Virgin Racing’s Jerome D’Ambrosio. Timo Glock’s Virgin, Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus and Pastor Maldonado’s Williams all retired with mechanical issues.

It wasn’t a classic Australian Grand Prix despite the pre-season hype and the new rules introduced this season to make overtaking that bit easier. Still, it was a great result for the world champions Down Under. Can the others catch Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing in the next Grand Prix in Malaysia? Lewis Hamilton and McLaren hope so, in order to challenge for the world title.

Australian Grand Prix, 58 laps:
1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h29:30.259
2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +22.297
3.  Petrov        Renault                    +30.560
4.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +31.772
5.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +38.171
6.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +54.300
7.  Massa         Ferrari                    +1:25.100
8.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +1 lap
9.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +1 lap
10.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +1 lap
11.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +1 lap
12.  Heidfeld      Renault                    +1 lap
13.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +2 laps
14.  D’Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +3 laps
DSQ. Perez Sauber-Ferrari +1:05.800*
DSQ. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari +1:16.800*

*Disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix over a technical infringement. Rules: 3.10.1 and 3.10.2.

Fastest lap: Massa, 1:28.947

Not classified/retirements:
Glock         Virgin-Cosworth              50 laps
Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth            49 laps
Rosberg       Mercedes                     22 laps
Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault                19 laps
Schumacher    Mercedes                     19 laps
Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth            10 laps
Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth                 1 lap
Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth                 1 lap

World Championship standings, round 1:

Drivers:
1.  Vettel        25
2.  Hamilton      18
3.  Petrov        15
4.  Alonso        12
5.  Webber        10
6.  Button         8
7.  Massa          6
8.  Buemi      4
9.  Sutil          2
10. di Resta           1

Constructors:
1.  Red Bull-Renault           35
2.  McLaren-Mercedes           26
3.  Ferrari                    18
4.  Renault                    15
5.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari             4
6.  Force India          3

Next race: Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang. April 8-10.

Vettel storms to pole position in Melbourne

The reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel kicked off his 2011 season in style by taking pole position in Melbourne.

Even without the aid of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System his lap around the 3.295-mile circuit was highly impressive with a time of one minute, 23.529 seconds.

Vettel’s sixteenth career pole position underline the performance of the Red Bull RB7. The gap between the young German and the next fastest was eight tenths of a second. A true dominate performance from the new world champion.

With a new exhaust system fitted to the MP4-26 after a disappointing pre-season testing – to improve the balance and handling – Lewis Hamilton rewarded the McLaren team with a solid second position.

Hamilton denied Red Bull Racing a front row start in the final moments of Q3 by beating Mark Webber by less than a tenth of a second, despite his Kinetic Energy Recovery System also failing during his last lap.

Home crowd favourite Mark Webber will start in third for Red Bull Racing, while two-time Australian Grand Prix winner Jenson Button is fourth for McLaren.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso could only manage fifth while his team-mate Felipe Massa suffered a troubled qualifying session with a spin at the end of Q3 and nearly being knocked out in Q1.

Vitaly Petrov took a superb sixth for Renault, while the Mercedes GP resurgence was not as dramatic as the final test had indicated. Nico Rosberg was seventh and Michael Schumacher missed out on a Q3 slot by the agonising margin of 0.089s after a poor run to his final Q2 lap.

Sauber and Toro Rosso showed their pre-season improvements were real as Kamui Kobayashi and Sebastien Buemi completed the top ten, with their team-mates Jaime Alguersuari and Sergio Perez not far off Q3 pace in P12 and P13.

Force India’s Paul di Resta and Pastor Maldonado in the Williams will start their maiden Grands Prix from P14 and P15 respectively, ahead of their experienced team-mates following mistakes by Adrian Sutil and Rubens Barrichello. Sutil miraculously avoided the pit wall in a spectacular spin out of the final corner, triggered when he activated his Drag Reduction System while hitting the kerb, unsettling the Force India.

Barrichello’s error was more embarrassing. The Brazilian touched the grass under braking for Turn 3 and spun into the gravel before he could set a Q2 time.

Renault’s Nick Heidfeld, who replaces the injured Robert Kubica this season, suffered a lack of pace in qualifying and will start in P18.

Last season’s new teams have so far failed to show any progress with Lotus back in its 2010 position behind the rest, but ahead of Virgin Racing, which were at least quick enough to make the 107 per cent cut in qualifying.

The same cannot be said to Hispania. Both Vitantonio Liuzzi and Narain Karthikeyan must rely on the kindness of the rest of the pitlane if they are to be given dispensation to race.

Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix is going to be intriguing especially the degradation nature from the Pirelli tyres. Will we see lots of pit-stop action? And what about the Drag Reduction System? Can this new adjustable rear wing aid overtaking? We will find out over the course of 58 laps around Albert Park, Melbourne.

Qualifying times from Melbourne:

1. Vettel    Red Bull-Renault    1m23.529s
2. Hamilton    McLaren-Mercedes    1m24.307s
3. Webber    Red Bull-Renault    1m24.395s
4. Button    McLaren-Mercedes    1m24.779s
5. Alonso    Ferrari        1m24.974s
6. Petrov    Renault        1m25.247s
7. Rosberg    Mercedes    1m25.421s
8. Massa    Ferrari        1m25.599s
9. Kobayashi    Sauber-Ferrari    1m25.626s
10. Buemi    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m27.066s
11. Schumacher    Mercedes    1m25.971s
12. Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m26.103s
13. Perez    Sauber-Ferrari    1m26.108s
14. di Resta    Force India-Mercedes    1m26.739s
15. Maldonado    Williams-Cosworth    1m26.768s
16. Sutil    Force India-Mercedes    1m31.407s
17. Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m26.270s
18. Heidfeld    Renault        1m27.239s
19. Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault    1m29.254s
20. Trulli    Lotus-Renault    1m29.342s
21. Glock    Virgin-Cosworth    1m29.858s
22. d’Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth    1m30.822s
23. Liuzzi    HRT-Cosworth    1m32.978s*
24. Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth    1m34.293s*

*Liuzzi and Karthikeyan failed to meet the Q1 107 percent qualifying time – 1m31.266s.

Formula One 2011 preview

A new Formula One season is upon us once again and with new drivers plus new rules joining a 19-race calendar, this year’s world championship is likely to be the most unpredictable and exciting in the past six decades of the sport.

Entertaining the worldwide fans and creating a greener message are now the main focus set by the sport’s governing body (the FIA) and with that an adjustable rear wing has been adopted to aid overtaking, plus KERS making a return, last seen in the 2009 season.

Read More

Adam and Joe back on 6 Music

Exciting news! Adam and Joe return back to their Saturday morning time slot from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm on BBC 6 Music, with a twelve week run starting in April.

The award-winning radio show at the Big British Castle is one of the most popular programmes on digital radio with witty views from Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish.

I have to admit that I miss hearing Doctor Sexy and Count Buckules on the air ways. I even had to re-listen to some past podcasts to re-experience the surreal banter. With the news that the duo are back, this bring happiness!

This is what Adam had to say:

“I can’t wait to get back to our show on Saturdays, I’ve really missed doing it. Not that I haven’t been every bit as busy as Joe. I’ve created several new filing systems for my CD’s and DVD’s, successfully reunited over 20 odd socks with their partners and learned to understand the language of ants (though I’m finding Decs more of a problem). It’s been fun but I’m looking forward to talking rubbish and playing brilliant music with Joe again.”

Looking forward to hearing the show. Welcome back Adam and Joe!