Five stats from the opening weekend in Melbourne

1. In fifteen of the last nineteen seasons - including each of the last three - the winner of the opening race of the season has gone on to win the Drivers Championship. Jenson Button is now the favourite and the best price available on him is 3/1 with Boylesports.

2. The winning team at the first Grand Prix of the season have won the Constructors Championship in seven of the last nine years. Brawn GP are still available at 11/5 with Boylesports but Ferrari, who broke this trend last season to triumph, are still favourites. The best price available on the Scuderia is 11/8 with Ladbrokes.

FIA perform random doping tests at Jerez

“Shit, this acid is strong”

The FIA carried out random anti-doping tests during testing at Jerez last week (In 2005, F1 improved its drugs testing programme to meet World Anti-Doping Agency standards).

On Thursday at the Spanish circuit, Ferrari’s two race drivers, McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen and Toro Rosso new boy Sebastien Buemi had to report to the FIA transporter to supply urine samples, the Swiss newspaper Blick reported.

Buemi revealed that he was also tested at the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix, when he was a test driver for Red Bull.

“Some weeks later two physicians arrived at my parents’ house in Augle (Switzerland) at six in the morning and asked me for another sample.”

As far as we know, no F1 driver has ever failed a doping test. In 2002, F3000 driver Tomas Enge tested postitive for cannabis (yeah, that helps you drive faster); the points he was stripped of cost him the F3000 title that year.

Spanish fans desperate for Alonso to leave Renault

In a poll conducted by Spain’s Sport newspaper, an overwhelming 74% of F1 fans voted in favour of Fernando Alonso moving to Ferrari.

We have no doubt that Alonso will end up wearing the red overalls of the Scuderia, but not for another couple of seasons. If you want to make money out of Alonso, bet on him moving to Ferrari in 2011, by which time Kimi Raikkonen or Felipe Massa (possibly both) will no longer have a seat.

In other Renault-related news, Flavio Briatore has announced that he will quit F1 in two years, presumably so he can dedicate more time to his charming WAG. [Guardian]

Did the Spaniard know about Honda’s fate?

“I’m getting the words… economic downturn.”

Earlier this year, Fernando Alonso was offered a very fat contract by Honda, which would earn him almost £8m a year. But he turned them down, a decision that now looks remarkably prescient.

Or perhaps Nando has psychic powers?

Joking aside, Alonso must be a very relieved man today. Had he chosen to go with Honda, he might have been forced to take a year off from F1 (unless Ferrari could somehow manage to buy out Kimi Raikkonen’s contract in double-quick time).

Nando thinks he can win the title next season. Oh, does he indeed…

Take one delusional Spaniard and a new F1 rulebook… mix well, add olive oil and lightly fry for 2-3 minutes. The result, a third drivers’ title for Alonso.

Nando is bullish about his chances of winning a third title with Renault:

“I can’t allow myself to start the championship without thinking I’m going to win,” he told reporters at a Madrid charity event organised by team sponsors ING.

“My aim - and the team’s - is the title. It’s a very clear objective, even if as the year progresses one may have to adapt to circumstances.”

The Spanish Sulk prepares to hurl toys from pram

Fernando Alonso doesn’t like the direction F1 is heading in, and he’s not afraid to say so. This week, Nando said he would think about quitting F1 if the sport adopted a standard engine from 2010.

“If they approved that, it would be the last straw. It would be time to think about retirement,” the Spaniard said at a charity event organised by ING, who sponsor his Renault team.

Alonso also claimed the new rules (see our idiot’s guide) hindered the progress of F1…

Times’ readers not impressed by Lewis

You’d think that readers of The Times’s F1 blog would vote Lewis Hamilton as the best F1 driver in 2008. After all, he is British and he did win the world championship in only his second season.

But no, Lewis could only finish second in the online poll, behind former teammate Fernando Alonso. When the Spaniard was told about the shock result, he said: “To be recognised for your work in your own country is one thing, but from somewhere else it makes me really proud.”

Lazy-ass Nando can’t be bothered to test

Fernando Alonso probably won’t return to a F1 cockpit until 2009. Spanish newspaper Sport claims that Renault will begin its winter testing programme in Barcelona next week - but without their star driver, who is now taking a break. He is dividing time between his pad in Mont-sur-Rolle, Switzerland, and his parents’ home in Spain.

Nando will get back in an F1 car in January, to coincide with Renault unveiling its 2009 car.

Well-earned break or lazy bum?