The Flying Lap with Peter Windsor

As consistently reported on The Flying Lap, Pastor Maldonado has been showing great promise ever since he made his F1 debut in Melbourne last year;  we were also very enthusiastic about the Williams FW34-Renault's grip and downforce levels when we first saw the car at the first Jerez test in early February, 2012.  In Barcelona - on a circuit that all the teams and drivers know intimately, the combination stunned the F1 world with a conclusive, brilliant victory.  We are delighted on today's show to be able to celebrate live on-line with Pastor - to talk about his electrifying laps in both Q2 and Q3 and about the pressure he withstood in the closing laps of the race, when he was pushed to the limit by Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.  We'll also be taking a close look at all the latest F1 technicalities with our resident guest, Craig Scarborough;  Rob Wilson, who began coaching Pastor 15 months ago, will be giving us his thoughts on the Williams win; and America's Conor Daly will be talking not only about his GP3 win at Barcelona but also his upcoming aero test day with the Sahara Force India F1 team

We preview this weekend's Santander Spanish GP with Lewis Hamilton's track guide and a strategy insight from WilliamsF1's Mark Barnett. Brazil's new GP2 star, Felipe Nasr, also looks ahead to the start of the European season;  and, reflecting on the 30th anniversary of the passing of Gilles Villeneuve, we are joined by Jonathan Giacobazzi, owner of the 1979 F1 Ferrari 312/T4 that became an integral part of the Canadian's dazzling career. Jonathan's company, Donelli Wines, was a major Gilles sponsor in those Ferrari years and today Jonathan is both a Ferrari man and a purist of the truest kind.  With Jonathan, we'll be looking back at the GV events of the past week and also looking ahead to Barcelona - and to the prospects of Ferrari and Fernando Alonso in particular.

As Formula 1 runs its first in-season test in the Pirelli era, we are delighted to be joined live on-line by Paul Hembery, Director of Motorsport for Pirelli.  No stranger to The Flying Lap - or to New Media - Paul is respected up and down the pit lane not only for his knowledge and managerial skill but also for his obvious passion for the sport.  We'll be talking to Paul about the season so far and about one of the key characteristics of the first four races - the relatively small "operating window" of the Pirelli compound combinations;  and we'll be looking at all the latest trends from the Mugello test, where most of the F1 teams and top drivers are running.  We also spoke to Sahara Force India's Nico Hulkenberg shortly before he left home for Day Three in Mugello.  Nico reflects on his first four races with the team, the current standing of the VJM05-Mercedes and his prospects in the upcoming Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix.  Our third guest, also joining us on-line, is Davide Valsecchi, the talented young Italian driver who has just made history by winning three GP2 races in a row.

Four races and four different winners!  On this occasion it was the World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, who rose to the top to win the Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain.  It was no walkover for Red Bull Racing, however.  Kimi Raikkonen qualified only 11th but my mid-distance was pushing Seb hard, looking for a way past.  Backed up by his young team-mate, Romain Grosjean, Kimi showed that LotusF1, too, are key players in this closest of F1 World Championships.  Joining us in the studio to discuss all this and more, we are delighted to welcome back to the show Karun Chandhok, an F1 race/test driver since 2010 and also an astute observer of the sport from many unique angles.  On-line from the LotusF1 base in Oxfordshire, England, Trackside Operations Director, Alan Permayne, also talks us through the Bahrain weekend and the qualities of James Allison's 2012 car, the E20; and, again joining us on-line from his "second home" -  the Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground north of Silverstone - Rob Wilson gives us his own, very eloquent views of the Seb-Kimi battle (and a little bit more besides!).