Button pushes the limit to win Canadian GP

It was a Canadian Grand Prix that was disastrous for one Englishman, but certainly fell in place for another as McLaren's Jenson Button made a storming comeback for his first ever victory at the Gilles Villenenuve circuit.

The 2009 world champion came through from the back, mostly attributing to a collision with his teammate Lewis Hamilton and later with Fernando Alonso, to capitalise on leader Sebastian Vettel's mistake on the final lap when the German slid wide in the Turn 6 chicane.

His miraculous recovery told only half the story from a race that provided chaos from a torrential downpour that delayed a restart of the race by two hours, and several examples of disastrous overtaking attempts throughout the field.

Button was in the mire of the race's talking points, and on Lap 8 and defending sixth place from Lewis Hamilton on the pit straight, deviated towards the pit wall that left Hamilton no room to pass, consequently smashing his left rear axle and therefore retiring despite complaining to his team his car was still fit to continue. Hamilton was also in the wars on Lap 4, the first real racing lap as the race disappointingly started under the safety car, when a failed dive into Turn 1 sent Red Bull driver Mark Webber into a spin as he and Hamilton lost several positions.

With Button taking to the pits to assess the damage and change to intermediate tyres, the safety car made its entrance again to clear debris from the Hamilton incident. As Button was making his way back to the pack he incurred a pit lane penalty for speeding under safety car conditions. With Vettel in control, Webber and particularly Button, were sything their way through. The Brit caught his way up to eighth when a downpour, and subsequently a safety car and red flag, put paid to his progress.

After a two-hour halt waiting for the rain to abate, he restarted back in ninth in hunt of the uncompetitive Fernando Alonso on Lap 34. But the two collided three laps after the restart on the Turn 4 chicane, diving on the inside with Alonso refusing to budge, with Button returning back to the pits for the then fifth time with a puncture left front and a change to inters, and Alonso beaching his car on the high kerb.

The change to intermediates soon galvanised after the safety car intervention from the Lap 37 incident in an drying racetrack. The race evolved to the point where rain tyres quickly became uncompetitive and the likes of Button, Michael Schumacher, Webber were making strong headway with intermediates, and then to the soft slicks. Button surged to fourth until yet another safety car appearance came on Lap 56 when Nick Heidfeld clattered the back of Kamui Kobayashi and dislodging his front wing scarily under braking the following corner. The incident gave Button the opportunity to creep his way towards Webber and Schumacher, passing both using DRS as well as his supreme driving talent in evolving conditions, before pursuing Vettel with only five laps left.

The gap was only three seconds then soon the gap dissolved as Vettel, who was in reasonable comfort at the front the whole race, was a target for a determined Button, who had thought his chances of a strong diminish from the early stages. Vettel on colder tyres than Button's, ruefully dipped his right tyre off the racing line, causing him to slide and agonisingly see his McLaren rival breeze past him to victory.

FIA transfixed by Bahrain money over safety

It seemed as if no one in F1's governing body was oblivious about the Arab Spring. But either way the FIA have their own reputation by reinstating a grand prix that was always going to be impossible to stage. It took a vote from the Formula 1 to cancel the Bahrain race for October to restore sense into a sport that was blinded by Sheikh money.

The naivety of the FIA, especially its president Jean Todt, has been astounding. They are probably up there with the likes of FIFA in the publicity stakes. Figures involved with the sport questioned the decision then. Max Mosley on BBC News said that the race would never materialise because it was up for the teams to decide. And Red Bull driver Mark Webber also was a stern critic for FIA's leniency towards Bahrain, claiming there are no safeguards in terms of protests during the race weekend. Would any spectators be there to see it anyway?

Although the Sakhir circuit looks aesthetically pleasing to the viewing eye while bringing in the lucrative revenues to the sport (It brings in $40m to host the opening race), the Bahrain GP has produced habitually boring races and a lack of attendees. Replacing India's spot would take the gloss off India's efforts to stage the race there. I say lets keep Bahrain off the F1 radar and let India have its glory. Boring Bahrain.

French 2011-12 Jersey

Football kits are never trendy, but kudos to the French national team's sponsor Nike with its Mime Artist design worn here by midfielder Samir Nasri in June 2011.

Rafa reigns supreme in Paris

Nadal and his obligatory trophy celebration in front of world's media (Reuters)

Kevin Mitchell, boxing and tennis writer from the Guardian, gave a great analogy of Sunday's showpiece between Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer. "Federer floated like a butterfly, but Nadal stung like a bee". Those words rung truer when reliving some moments of the match when Federer diced with the Spaniard clay master, but was left demoralised by Nadal's punishing forehand. Federer metaphorically was left bloodied and bruised, Rafa celebrated like a Heavyweight Champion of the world.

Nadal won in four sets, but the fashion in which the World No.1 won the first set - coming back from 5-2 down and facing a set point - and racking up five consecutive games meant the match almost had an inevitability thereafter. Federer was good, stunningly good. He mixed up his shots very well and did not show much predictability in his general play. But his mental state gradually became a weakness, with a defeatist attitude in the early half of the match. I didn't have much confidence in him finishing off a point in some stages, even in dominant position to do so such was Nadal's impenetrable aura.

Onto Wimbledon in a couple of weeks. Federer's status as the greatest tennis player that ever lived is a statement that is losing validity. He'll need to win the tournament in July to regain some of his invincibility that we saw in the last eight years, otherwise it may well be a champion slowly heading into decline.

West Ham will rue boardroom indequacies

West Ham will not look back at the 2010-11 season very fondly. In fact it was probably the worst season in the club's Premier League history. Even poor than 2003, the last time the Hammers were relegated. As a Hammers supporter though, this one was much more relieving than the previous fall to the 'B-League', giving us a sense of realism and a kick up the bottom.

When David Gold and David Sullivan brought the club outright from the almost financially-bankrupt Icelandic bank Straumur in 2010, fans seemed joyful of a more secure financial future at the club, but at the same time, wincing at the prospect of where they will take the club. Avram Grant was not the solution to their problems, but one that would compound further suffering.

Four straight league defeats set the tone, conceding 3 goals in each game in the process. While a home win over Tottenham stemmed the losing momentum in September, poor home form in the coming months really was the Hammers' undoing. They lost to Newcastle, and dropped points against West Brom, Fulham, Blackpool and Everton. The 'Save Our Season' fixture against Wigan in November seemed almost irreparable, despite the 3-1 victory, as their away form collapsed like an Avram Grant facial expression of disappointment.

The mood soured at Upton Park soured for a number of reasons other than their matchday performances. Hammers fans never likened the idea of leaving home for a redeveloped Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. Then there was the managerial upheaval in January before and after the Arsenal fixture, with Grant suffering the ignominy of defeat for two obvious reasons. Grant was, though, given a vote of confidence by the board. The West Ham board did not cover themselves in glory with sporadic decisions in transfer policies. Rather putting the structure in place for a brighter long-term future, short-term and expensive recruits Wayne Bridge and Robbie Keane were drafted on in a steadily sinking ship. Signings such as Pablo Barrera, Winston Reid and Tal ben-Haim lacked thought and of little intention to take the club to great strides.

Benni McCarthy, Victor Obinna and Freddie Piquionne have proved inconsistent purchases, while Demba Ba should have been acquired at the beginning of the season, and not through an inflated £6m fee during the January transfer window from Hoffenheim.

Those mistakes, coinciding with Grant's lack of motivational skills, tactical deficiencies, adn over-reliance of Scott Parker cost the Israeli his job, and have made Gold, Sullivan and Karren Brady a laughing stock in the hub of east London.